Introductory. 

The portion of the West African coast occupied by 
the Yoruba-speaking peoples is situated in the eastern 
half of the Slave Coast, and lies between Badagry, on 
the west, and the Benin River, on the east. The 
extent of sea-board held by them is thus smaller than 
that occupied either by the Tshi or by the EvVe 
tribes ; but the Yorubas are really an inland people, 
and it was not until the beginning of the present 
century that they moved to the south and colonised 
Lagos and the adjacent littoral. 

The territory now inhabited by the Yoruba tribes 
is bounded on the west by Dahomi, on the south-west 
by Porto Novo and Appa, on the south by the sea, on 
the east by Benin, and on the north by the Moham- 
medan tribes from the interior, who have within 
recent times conquered and annexed the Yoruba 
province of Ilorin, and whose territory may now be 
said to extend southward to about 8° 30' N. latitude. 

TnE ronVBA.aPF.AKIXG pf.oplk^. 

The aggressions of these Mohammedan tribes com- 
menced very early in the present century, and it 
no doiibt this pressure from the north that caused thej 
Yorubas to move to the south anil colonise the 
hoard. 

Yoruba country at present comprises the following- 
states, or political units ; — 

(1) The British colony of Lagos, which covers the 
whole sea-front between the meridian of the Ajarra 
Creek and the Benin River, and has absorbed the 
former native kingdoms of Appa, Pokra, Badagry, 
Lagos, Palma, Lekki, Mahin, Ogbo, and Jakri. 

(2) Kotu. This is the western state. It is bounded 
on the west by Dahomi, on the south by Porto Novo, 
and on the east by Egba. Its northern limits are 
undefined. 

(;I) Egba. It lies east of Ketu and south-west of 
Yorulm proper. Its capital is Abeokuta, "Under thfr 
Rook." 

(4) Jebn. This is the south-eastern kingdom, and 
is divided into two provinces, called Jebu Remo and 
Ji'bu Ode. Jebu Ode has for its capital a town of 
tlio Hanie name, that of Jebu Remo is called Offin. 
The river Odo Omi is considered the north-western- 
boundary »>f Jol)u, and, roughly speaking, the territory 
of tilt' Johns may be said to extend inland to a distance 
K\i ^mw titty miles from the lagoon. 

(A) Kkili Tribes. These tribes, which form a con- 
HvdvrHtioii, lie to the north-east of Jebu Ode, 

\lO tWvUn. It lies north of Jebu Ode. 

t?) Yv^rutw proper. This kingdom, whose capital, 
il- C^«h Im« to th<> north of Iliadan and Egba, and 

INTRODUCTORY. 3 

towards the west its boundary trends southward to 
within some twenty-five miles of Abeokuta. 

(8) Ijesa, capital Ilesa. This state is situated to 
the south-east of Yoruba proper. 

(9) Ife, capital of the same name, lies south-west 
of Ijesa. 

(10) Ondo. This kingdom, capital Ondo, is situ- 
ated south-east of Ife. 

In addition there are several small states, or rather 
independent townships, consisting of a town and a 
few outlying villages. The principal are Bgbado, 
Okeodan, Ado, Awori, and Igbessa, all of which lie 
south of Egba. Their inhabitants are Egbados, or 
Southern Egbas {Egha-odo^ Egbas of the coast). 

The inhabitants of all these states speak one lan- 
guage, the Yoruba. They are called Nagos by the 
French, and by the English are named after their 
political divisions, as Egbas, Ibadans, Jebus, &c. 

The lagoon system, which in the last volume of this 
series was noted as commencing a short distance to 
the west of the Volta River, on the GTold Coast, 
extends along the whole sea-front of the territory 
occupied by the Yoruba-spfeaking tribes, and affords 
a continuous waterway from Porto Novo to Benin. 
The extension of the continent in a southerly direction, 
which was mentioned in the last volume as typical of 
the western half of the Slave Coast, and which may 
doubtless be attributed to the action of the Gruinea 
current in closing with sand the openings to former 
indentations which existed in the coast-line, is also 
equally noticeable in this the eastern half of the 
Slave Coast ; and, generally speaking, the country is 

B 2 

rilF. TOr^UBA-SPEAKIXa PEOPLES. 

open, flat, and devoid of stones. Jebu ia an excep- 
tion, being thickly forested ; but it appears that less 
territory has been won from the sea south of Jebu, 
and east of Lagos generally, than in the districts to 
the west, between Lagos and Dahorai. To the east 
of Lagos the old coast-line seems to have been almost 
oonterminous with the northern shores of the Kradu 
and Lekki lagoons, and the water-way which connects 
them by way of Epi, while to the west it appears to 
havy trended back northwards beyond the lagoons 
of Olugo and Porto Novo. It is only after crossing 
tbo narrow lagoon or creek called the Ajarra Creek, 
whioh rnns in a convex curve from the Porto Novo 
Uyi.x»n to the Okpara, that stones are found in the j 
soil; and alwut twenty miles to the west of this there 1 
LttHMftrs to have been at one time a great bay, the 
■llllttern limit of which was the Ko, or Great Marsh, 
MBtDabond, thirty-five miles from the present coast- 
tmtf. Th^ dotted line in the accompanying map shows 
bl»t» ()rohtiblo position of the ancient coast-line between i 
bhtf Volfe* Kiver and Lekki. j 

\orthwai\l of the old coast-line the Yoruba country f 
r«M« wry i[r»du«lly in a succession of low-lying, ' 
(kllMmittt, tmvereod by a few lines of low hills, or j 
uiututeliifw» m lht> ground; but a chain of mountains, 
w^MW gvuvral direction is east and west, extends, at 
ilbiMft uifC^t dtf);roes north latitude, from Dahomi to 
[ UlH ttiWthifru bordt'r of Ijesa, where the country is 
p'*)CH*»«l iwiJ difficult. Isolated and densely-wooded 
I hilU, (I'uiu 800 to 1,300 feet high, are also found in 
\U kihL OttUo. 

Ill M>itw \hU'^, as at Sakiti, north of Ajarra, and at 

Ab^ok'iif^, JMoUtP/t maH?<f^ or crranire ;raGcirfi evidiaice 
of afT^^t rJeTiiKlj^rion, fn nict rhe wLoIe wetjcem ein^ 
of Afno»^, b^twe^m the f.^leH 'le ILi:g, tevennr miles nortii 
of ':^^f^rr^ f>*r>np, ^nd f^cros^ ^^i^i probablj bevond 
thofi^, limitH, .^horv^ rracp,M of an enornLQns deiiadaflrijn. 
The t«:ble-toppe4 {Cotiii .Vfonntain, whiaK rises sbeer 
from the pUin nonh of the .Vfelikiiri RiTer to a he%tt 
of 2,0f^) feet, i« the .^ole remnant of a vui^t: cap of 
?fandfttr>ne that rJonbtlenM at one time covered the 
whole of that part of the countrj; and the E^n^bo ilocm- 
tain, an i^^o)at^,rl and precipif/jn.^ ma.^s, 800 feet high, 
»itnat^,4 in the Kvr>rtf> plain on the Gold Coast, to- 
prether with the table-t/>p^>ed mountains with vertical 
cliff.^ in the Afakia di.^trict, to the north of theQuittah 
(Keta; la^r></n, will probably, when geologically exa- 
mined, prove to Fxe other vefitiges of the same sand- 
stone formation. 

Of the early history of the Yomba-speaking peoples 
nothin<^ ig known, excfi|>t what can be gleaned from 
Dalzel's *' lh?.U>ij of Dahomf;^','' 1793, from which it 
would apf>ear that, at the V>eginning of the eighteenth 
century, all the different triVx^H were united, and were 
ruled by a kin^ who resided at Old Oyo, sometimes 
called Katunga. The kingdom of Yoruba also seems 
to have been more f)f>werful than the other two great 
African kingdoms, Dahomi and Ashanti. Between 
172J. and 1725 the King of Yoruba espoused the 
quarrel of the King of Ardra, whose kingdom had 
been overthrown by Dahomi, and sent a large army, 
chiefly consisting of cavalry, to invade Dahomi. By 
a stratagem * the Yorubas were routed, and the kin^ 

• " Ewc-spcnkiiig Peoi>lcs,** p. 285. 

INTRODUCTORY. 7 

of Dahomi then diplomatically sued for peace, which 
was granted; but about September, 1728, a new 
quarrel having arisen, this time in the interests of the 
King of Whydah, a Yoruba army again invaded 
Dahomi, and a desultory war lasted until 1730, when 
peace was once more made. In 1 738 another Yoruba 
army invaded Dahomi, defeated the king, and captured 
and burnt Agbomi, Kana, and Zassa ; * and from that 
time forward the Yorubas annually raided into Dahomi, 
ravaging the country, and retiring again at the com- 
mencement of the rains. This state of afEairs was 
brought to an end by a treaty of peace made in 1747, 
by which the King of Dahomi undertook to pay a 
heavy annual tribute to the King of Yoruba. After 
this we hear no more of the Yorubas in DalzePs 
History, which is only carried to 1791, except that, 
in 1786, they interfered to prevent the Dahomis from 
attacking Porto Novo ; but the tribute appears to have 
been paid up to the days of King Gezo of Dahomi 
(1818). 

Governor Dalzel informs us, however, that when 
the "Eyeos'^t (Yorubas) were dissatisfied with a 
king, they sent a deputation to him with a present of 
parrot's eggs, and a message that they considered 
he must be fatigued with the cares of government, 
and that it was time for him to rest and take a little 
sleep. Upon receiving this message, the king forth- 
with retired to his apartments, as if to sleep, and 
then gave directions to his women to strangle him, 

• "Ewe-speaking Peoples," p. 294. 

t The Yorubas were called Eyeos or Oyos by old writers, after tlie 
name of their capital, Oyo. 

8 THE YOnUBA-SPKAKIXG PEOPLES. 

which they accordingly did.* In 1774, the then king- 
declined to take the hint, and returned the parrot's 
eggs. The chiefs tried to support the custom by 
force, and Ochemi, the jirime minister headed a rebel- 
lion, which was, however, crushed, and Ochemi, and 
all his numerous family were put to death. 

The reason of our having such meagre information 
of this great West African kingdom is that the Yorubaa 
did not inhabit the territories on the sea-coast, the Ewe 
tribes occupying the coast lino as far east as Badagry, 
and the Benin tribes the portion from Badagry to 
Benin. The Ew-e tribes had in fact spread along 
the sea-shore from west to east, and the Benin 
tribes from east to west, till they met, and covered 
all the sea frontage of the inland territory occupied 
by the Yorubas. This neglect on the part of the 
Yorubas to push down to the sea may have been partly 
due to superstition, for Dalzel says that " the fetiche 
of the Eyeos was the sea," and that they and their 
king were threatened with death by their priests if 
they ever dared to look upon it. Slave traders and 
others, who frequented the Slave Coast during the 
last century, were thus not brought into contact with 
the Yorubas, and consequently we hear but little of 
them ; while the literature concerning Asbanti and 
Dahomi, which, like Yoruba, were originally inland 
powers, but whose invasions of the coast kingdoms 
brought them into contact with Europeans, is ample. 

Aa far as can be ascertained, the chief strength of 
Yoniba lay in its cavalry, which was said to number 

• This custom remained id force until quite recent limes, if, indeed, 
it is yet altogetlier extinct. 

INTRODUVTOHY. 

,000, a manifest exaggeration, for lioraes have 
'er been numerous in the few districts of West 
in which it is possible for them to live. The 
report as to the number of cavalry reached the traders 
through the coast tribe, who owned no horses, and 
who were no doubt greatly impressed by the spec- 
tacle of a few score of mounted men. According to 
tradition, the following was the method of determin- 
ing the number of men required for a military expedi- 
tion. An ox-hide was pegged down in front of the 
general's tent, and the horsemen made to ride over it 
in succession between two spears. When, by this 
process, a hole had been worn in the hide, the 
J number of men was thought sufficient for an ordinary 
I campaign. For serious operations two ox-hides were 
[ used, one placed over the other. 

Although as we know from Dalzel's History, Oyo, 
or Yoruba, was a powerful kingdom at least as early 
as 1724, Yoruba traditional history carries lis back 
no further than the end of the eighteenth century, a 
fact which shows what little reliance can be placed 
upon the traditions of nations who are unacquainted 
with the art of writing. The first king of whom the 
arokin, or chroniclers, have any knowledge is Ajagho, 
who appears to have reigned soon after 1780, and 
whose name is preserved in the metrical sentence 
which fixes the rhythm of the ogidigho drum, as 
follows : Gho, Ajagho, ijho oba ghn. Id emi, ki otfi gbo.* 
■ " Grow old, Ajagbo, grow old king, grow old, maj I alsn grow 
old." Each drum lias its ^^wn meaBurp ot rhythm, which is prupor to 
it. and, in order to presen'e tiiia rhythm, seuteuces are invented to call 

Kniind. In thix case the rlijthm is — 
ZZIZ 

ID THE YOliUBA-SPEAKlNG PEOPLES. 

In the days of Ajagbo the kingdom of Yoniba con- 
sisted of the four following states. 

(1) Yoruba proper, whose capital, Old Oyo, or j 
Katiinga, was situated some ninety miles to the north I 
of the present town of Oyo. The king of this state, 
whoso title was Alajin, or Alawofin, literally " One who ' 
owns the entering of the palace," was the ruler over 
all the Yornba-speaking tribes. 

(2) Egba, which lay to tho south and west of the 
above kingdom. Its chief town was Ake, and from it 
the chief took his title of Alake, " One who owns 
Ake." 

(3) Ketu. This was then, as now, the western 
province. Its capital was Ketu, and from it the chief 
took his title of Alaketu, "One who owns Ketu," 

(•i) Jebu, which lay south and east of Yoniba 
proper. It was divided into Jebu Renui and Jebu 
Ode, each having its own chief, but the ruler of the 
latter, called the Awnjale, was considered the chief of 
the whole. 

The rulers of Yoruba, Egba, and Ketu styled each 
other " brother." 

Ajagbo was succeeded by Abiodun, who is said to 
have enjoyed a long and peaceful reign, so that the 
reign of his brother and successor, Arogangan, can 
scarcely have commenced before 1800. It was during 
the ruign of Arogangan that the Yoruba kingdom 
commenced to break up. The Fulas, it seems, over- 
ran the territory of the Hausas, and the latter, driven 
southward, sought refuge in the northern provinces of 
Yoruba. Arogangan had appointed his nephew, 
Afunja, governor of Ilorin, the north-eastern pro- 

INTRODUCTORY. 11 

vince, which contained a large number of Hausa 
refugees, and Afunja, being ambitious, conceived the 
project of utilising the Hausas in order to dethrone 
his uncle and make himself Alafin. His plans being 
matured, he raised an insurrection, which met with a 
measure of success, for Oyo was besieged, and 
Arogangan, in order to avoid falling into the hands 
of his nephew, poisoned himself; but Afunja was 
not able to secure the throne, as the elders of Oyo 
elected to the monarchy Adebo, the brother of 
Arogangan, and Afunja had to retire to Ilorin, 
where he maintained a semi-independent position. 
These events are supposed to have taken place about 
1807, and it was about the same time that some of 
the Yorubas first pushed to the south and colonised 
Lagos. The first chief of Lagos was named Ashipa, 
and is said to have belonged to the family of the 
Alafin. 

Adebo only reigned about four months, and died 
suddenly, from which it was supposed that he was 
poisoned. He was succeeded by Maku, who en- 
deavoured to make head against the Mohammedan 
tribes who were now pressing in from the north, but 
he was defeated in a great battle, and committed 
suicide, after a reign of about only three months. An 
interregnum now ensued, during which the reins of 
power Avere held by the Oba-shoruny or prime minister, 
and it was not until five years had elapsed that a new 
king, named Majotu, was elected. He reigned about 
seven or eight years, committed suicide on account, 
tradition says, of the misbehaviour of his son, and was 
succeeded by Amodo. 

12 TJIK YOltUliA-SPEAKlNG PEOPLES. 

Afunja had, since 1807, remained in possession of 
llorin, wliere he Iiad sought to strengthen himself by 
oticoiiru^ing Mohammedans to settle, and, about 1825, 
while Amodo was engaged with the invading tribes 
from the north, he again made war iipon Yoruba. He 
captured and destroyed a number of towns, and was 
apparently about to carry all before him, when, for 
some reason that has never transpired, he was con- 
veyed back to the town of llorin by those very Hausa 
mercenaries through whose aid he had hoped to be- 
come Alafin, and publicly burned alive. The Moham- 
medan party had for some years been dominant in 
llorin, and now, declaring that it would no longer 
recognise a pagan king, it elected a Mohammedan to 
the supremo power, and severed the connection with 
Yoruba. 

llorin now took the lead in the Mohammedan in- 
vasion of Yoruba, and the Yorubas seem to have been 
invariably worsted. In 1830, when it was visited by 
Lander, Old Oyo was still the capital of Yoruba, but 
between 1833 anil 1835 it was captured and destroyed 
by the Mohammedans, and the Yorubas, flying south- 
wmrits, founded their present capital Oyo, about 
atn«tv miles south of the old one. The Egbas, taking 
(ulrantage of the overthrow of Yoruba, declared them- 
iH>tvv$ independent, but the Yorubas, as soon as they 
wviv settled in their new territory, attacked them 
wilt vigour, and drove them out of all their northern 
Iwwiui. A desultory war then lingered till about 1838, 
>«hvu tho Kgbas abandoned their territory, and moving 
U* ihi* w.»«th, founded their present capital, Abeokuta, 
't'lttf u»w town was divided into several distinct 

INTHODUCTORY. 13 

quarters, or townships, which were named after an 
equal number of towns that had been destroyed in the 
war, and one of them, Ake, still preserves the name 
of the old Egba capital. Although these events oc- 
curred so recently, they have already become clothed 
with myth ; and Lishabe, the chief who led them to 
Abeokuta, is believed by the Egbas to have been a 
giant and a demi-god. 

About the same time, Ibadan, a town of the old 
province of Egba, situated some thirty-five miles 
south of Oyo, declared itself independent of Egba; 
the original Egba inhabitants having been driven out 
by the Jebus, and the latter, in their turn, by Yoruba 
refugees. Other secessions took place, and by 1840 
the Yoruba kingdom had split up into the following 
independent states. 

(1) Yoruba, south of Old Yoruba, capital Oyo. 

t(2) Egba, south and west of Old Egba, capital 
beokuta. 
(3) Ketu. 
;(4) Jebu. 
I (5) Ibadan, a small state south of Oyo. It owned 
nominal allegiance to the Alafin, because its 
inhabitants were Yoruba refugees, but was really 
independent. 

(6) Ijesa, a small state south of Ilorin. The ruler 
ityled the Owa. 

(7) Ife, a small state south-west of Ijesa. The 
ller was styled the Onl. 

The former Yoruba jirovince of Ilorin was now 
,bited by Fulas, Bornua, and Hausas, and was said 
have a population of 300,000, 80,000 of whom 

u 

TIJE YOIU'BA-^PEAKFNG PEOPLED. 

■were in the town of Ilorin. The Fulas were tin 
dominant race, and tbo government was in theii 
hands. 

Shortly after ISiO the Ekiti tribes, as they we] 
afterwards termed, that is, the inhabitants of thfl 
various towns lying between Ibadan and Ijesa, and 
the adjoining territory to the south, formed a con-! 
federation, which was soon joined by Ife and Ijesa, 
the ruler of the latter state being elected head of thff 
confederation. The Mohammedans of Ilorin wero' 
the first to take alarm at this coalition, and attacked 
the confederates, destroying or annexing several 
towns while Ibadan soon followed suit, and after ft; 
time succeeded in conquering aud annexing Ijesfti 
The result of these various conflicts was that the; 
confederation was entirely subdued, one half passing* 
under the rule of Ilorin and the other under that o£ 
Ibadan. Before long, however, the inhabitants of 
the towns which had been annexed to Ilorin applied 
to Ibadan for assistance, and another war ensued,! 
which resulted in the expulsion of the Ilorins, and' 
the establishment of the rule of Ibadan over the whole' 
Ekiti confederation. This was about 1858. 

While these events were taking place in the interior, 
Lagos, which, as we have seen, was colonised from 
Yoruba at the beginning of the century, had become 
a place of some note as a slave emporium. The wars: 
in the north, which had been almost incessant since 
the rebellion of Afunja about 1807, had resulted in 
the capture of many thousands of prisoners of war, 
of both sexes and all ages, and the dregs of these,, 
the men who were of no local importance, and thOt 

ixtroduvtohy. 

women who were no longer attractive, were, in 
accordance with the usual practice, sold to the slave- 
traders. Lagos was the most convenient port, and 
they were therefore marched down there in gangs to 
await shipment. This traffic in slaves, which brought 
Ll^os into some notoriety, commenced about the 
year 1815, and soon attained very large dimensions. 

In 1836 a struggle for the succession broke out in 
Lagos, and resulted in Kosoko, the legitimate pre- 
tender, being expelled the kingdom by his rival 
Ohiwole, who secured the throne for himself. Ohi- 
wole died in 184-1, and was succeeded by Akitoye, 
who was foolish enough to invite Kosoko, who was 
still alive and in banishment, to come and live in 
Lagos. Kosoko readily accepted the invitation, soon 
began conspiring, and before long found himself suf- 
ficiently well supported to rebel. In the struggle 
which ensued the town of Lagos was burned, and 
Akitoye driven into banishment. He found a refuge 
at Badagry, and, in order to induce the English to 
espouse his cause, promised that, if he were re-instated 
at Lagos, he would help to suppress the slave-trade. 
This negotiation coming to the knowledge of Kosoko, 
he despatched a force to Badagry to attack Akitoye, 
which burned the town, killed an English trader 
named Gee, and destroyed a great deal of property 
belonging to British subjects. The senior naval 
officer upon the station thereupon determined to sup- 
port Akitoye against Kosoko, and H.M. sloops 
PhilMnel, Harlequin, Niijer, and Watertdfch, with the 
gun vessels Bhodhouvd and Volcano, assembled off the 
Lagos bar in November, 18S1, and on the 26th all 

in TIIF. YOlUJBA-SPEAKIXa PF.nPLF.S. 

tte ships' boats, towed by the Bloodhound, entered 
the lagoon and proceeded towards Lagos Island. Aa 
the British Consul, who was with the flotilla, had 
hopes that Kosoko wonld submit to a display of 
force, flags of truce were kept flying ; and although, 
on rounding the first point, a heavy musketry fire 
■was opened by the natives, the fire was not returned, 
and the flags were not lowered till the boats were 
within a mile of the town. At this point several 
guns opened on the boats, so the flags of truce were 
hauled down and the fire returned. The fire from 
the boats had, however, but little effect on the natives, 
who were well covered by stockades and mud walls, 
and a party of one hundred and sixty men was 
accordingly landed. They found themsolves in a 
maze of narrow streets, from every corner of which 
they were fired upon by concealed enemies, and after 
losing two officers killed and several men wounded, 
they were compelled to retreat to the boats. 

This failure led to a more determined attack in 
December, on the 26th of which month a consider- 
able force, under the command of Commodore H. 
"W". Bruce, entered the lagoon in boats. The natives 
offered a stubborn resistance, and had in position 
several guns, which were exceedingly well served. 
The Teazer got agi'ound abreast of a battery, 
upon which her own gun could not be brought to 
bear, and to save her from destruction it became 
injcoaeary to laud a party and carry tlie battery by 
assault. This was done in gallant style, but with 
heavy loss of one officer and thirteen men killed, 
four officers and fifty-eight men wounded. The 

INTRODUCTORY, 17 

other vessels and boats had in the meantime kept 
up a vigorous bombardment, which was maintained 
all that day, and continued next morning from day- 
break until about 11 a.m., when a magazine on shore 
blew up and set fire to the town. The flames, 
fanned by the sea-breeze, spread with remarkable 
rapidity, and the heat was so intense that the fire 
of the natives gradually slackened and then finally 
stopped. Next morning, Kosoko and his followers 
having abandoned the place, the British landed. 
They found the beach strongly stockaded, and an 
enfilading piece of ordnance at every promontory. 
Pifty-two guns were captured, but the victory was 
dearly purchased, as the total loss during the two 
days' operations amounted to two oflBcers and fifteen 
men killed, four officers and sixty-eight men wounded, 
many of them very severely. 

Akitoye was now reinstated, and on January 1st, 
1852, signed a treaty, undertaking to suppress the 
export slave trade, and to expel all Europeans en- 
gaged in the traffic. About September of the same 
year some Portuguese slave traders, who had been 
expelled under this treaty, returned to Lagos, and, 
with the assistance of some of the chiefs, secretly 
renewed the traffic. Akitoye, being informed of what 
was going on, strove to stop it, whereupon the Portu- 
guese incited the chiefs to rebel, and in August, 1853, 
Kosoko returned from Epi, where he had taken 
refuge, to head the movement. The British naval 
authorities again interfered in favour of Akitoye; a 
party of seamen and marines was landed to support 
him, and on the 13th of August, after a sharp 

18 THE YOnUBA-SPEAKliVG PEOPLES. 

Bkirraisli, defeated Kosoko and his adherents, who 
once more fled to the east. 

Akitoye died in September, poisoned, it was said, 
by the slave trade party, and his son Doeemo was, 
through British influence, appointed his successor. 
Kosoko, who had again found an asylum with the 
chief of Epi, refused to accept this arrangement, and 
continued to harass Doeemo and the Lagos people 
until by an agreement made in January, 1854, he 
was recognised as King of Palma and Lekki, on 
condition of renouncing all claim to the sovereignty 
of Lagos. In August, 18G1, Doeemo ceded Lagos 
to the British in consideration of a pension of 
£1,000 a year, and Lagos thus became a British 
possession ; but it is doubtful if the cession was 
altogether voluntary on Docemo's part, for during 
the first few years succeeding the signature of the 
treaty he made several protests against it. 

In 1860 a new war broke out in the interior. 
Ijaye, an important town of Yoruba, declared itself 
independent of the Alajiii, who called upon the 
Ibadans to assist him in reducing it to allegiance. 
The Ibadans complied, whereupon the Egbas sided 
with Ijaye ; but these allies sustained a severe defeat 
at the hands of the Yonibas and Ibadans, losing, it 
is said, 40,000 in killed and prisoners, and Ijaye 
was destroyed on March 17th, 1862. 

Dp to this time the Egbas had been considered 
the proteges of the British, and great interest had 
been taken in the welfare of Abeokuta, which was 
regarded as the bulwark of Christianity in West 
Africa. This interest dated from about 1838, when 

J 

■ ixTRODrrrnnv. 10 

a number of Egba slaves, wbo had been liberated 
at Sierra Leone from captured slave vessels, re- 
turned to Abeokuta and asked that missionaries 
might be sent to them. A Protestant mission was 
established there in 1848, and when an attack on 
the town was threatened by Gezo, King of Dahomi, 
in 1850, Mr. Beecroft, the British Consul for the 
Bights, and Commander Forbes, R.N., were sent to 
Agbomi to endeavour to persuade the king to abandon 
his design. The mission completely failed, and Gezo 
attacked Abeokuta on March 3rd, 1851, but was re- 
pulsed with fiome loss.* The British occupation of 
Lagos in 1861 piit an end to the friendly feelings of 
the Egbas, who resented the protection granted by 
the colonial authorities to fugitive slaves from Abeo- 
kuta, and objected to the stoppage of the export slave 
trade, in which they had been largely engaged. They 
seem also to have had some siispicion that their inde- 
pendence was threatened, for when in May, 1861, it 
was proposed to send some trained gunners of the 
2nd West India Regiment to Abeokuta to instruct 
the people in the use of some guns that had been 
presented by the British Government, and to lend aid 
during another attack that was now threatened by 
Dahomi, the Egbas made excuse after excuse, and 
finally declined to receive them. In 1862 they fur- 
ther displayed their ill-will by molesting and plundei'- 
ing several native traders from Lagos, and, as they 
refused reparation, the Governor of Lagos, in 1863, 
blockaded all the roads leading to Abeokuta. 
^^^ 1863, Kosoko, chief of Palma and Lekki, desired 
^^^H * " EwQ-iipeakiDg Peoples," pp. 31o-6. 

20 THE YOnVBA-SPKAKlNG PEOPLES. 

to return to Lagos, andj in order to obtain per- 
mission, ceded Palma and Lekki to tlie British. 
The Possii, or chief of Epi, raised objections to 
this cession. He had, it appeared, certain terri- 
torial rights over these places, and their cession, 
moreover, shut him off from the sea. As lie refused 
to cede his rights, an expedition, consisting of three 
officers and 124 men of the 2nd and 3rd West India 
Regiments, proceeded in H.M.S. Investigator to Epi, 
where the troops and a rocket party of one of&cer 
and fourteen seamen landed. The natives offered a 
strenuous resistance, and the expeditionary force suf- 
fered a loss of three men killed and three officers 
and twenty-eight men wounded, but the town was 
destroyed. After this the chief renounced all further 
claim to territory south of the lagoon. In July, 
1803, the chiefs of Badagry likemse ceded all their 
territory to the British. 

The war between the Egbas and Ibadans caused 
by the affair of Ijaye had been carried on in a desul- 
tory manner since 1802; but in 186t, after the repulse 
of the Dahomis from before Abeokuta on March 15th,* 
the Jebus, who had hitherto adopted the policy of 
ezclading all strangers from their territory, and had 
lired in complete isolation, shut off by their forests 
from the rest of the tiibes, joined the Egbas, and the 
war was prosecuted with more vigour. The Jebus 
dl Ikoradu, a town at the northern extremity of the 
Lagoa lagoou, refused to join their fellow-tribesmen 
ta the alliaDce with the Egbas, their reason being that 
dw^ mterentH were identified with those of the people 
• •' Kwe-speakiug Peoples," pp. 322-324, 

IXTRODUQTORY. 21 

of Lagos, and that they had suffered equally with 
them from the cessation of trade caused by the mal- 
treatment of traders by the Egbas. In revenge, the 
Egbas, early in 1865, despatched to Ikoradu an 
army of 12,000 men, which besieged the town, and, 
after the native fashion, threw up two entrenched 
camps against it. The Colonial Government, alarmed 
at the near approach of this force, and appealed to 
by the Ikoradus for aid, warned the Egbas to desist, 
and ordered them to return to their OAvn country. 
The Egbas sent insulting messages in reply, and a 
force of some 280 men, consisting of the 5th "West 
India Begiment and the Lagos Police, was accord- 
ingly sent against them, which stormed the camps 
and routed the Egbas with heavy loss, on March 29th, 
1665. This affair of course only served to widen the 
breach between the British and the Egbas, the latter, 
besides, conceived that the Colonial Government 
encouraged the annual raids of Dahomi upon Egba 
territory ; and, in 1867, they expelled all the mission- 
aries from Abeokuta, and cut off all relations Avith 
the British. 

It seems that a letter, purporting to be signed by a 
hostile chief, fell into the hands of the Egbas, who 
knew that the chief could not write, and fancied they 
recognised the handwriting as that of a Protestant 
missionary who had formerly lived in Abeokuta. The 
missionaries in Abeokuta were thereupon accused of 
betraying the Egbas to their enemies ; there was a 
popular tumult, and the mob howled for their blood. 
It was only with great difficulty that the chiefs and 
elders succeeded in saving the lives of the accused, 

niE YOIWBA-SPEAKIXG PEOJ'LEfi. 

who wore immediately expelled from the town, and 
their houses and churches destroyed. In 1880, thai 
French Roman Catholic missionaries obtained leave tol 
establish a mission in Abeokuta, which thenceforward J 
fell more under the influence of the French. 

The interior continued to be disturbed by interJ 
tribal wars until about 1870, when affaira calmed'l 
down, but in 1877 the Bgbas plundered some Ibadaifc 
traders, and the Ibadans sent an army to avenge the 
outrage. Upon this the Jebus renewed their former ' 
alliance with the Egbas, and Tjesa and the Ekiti 
tribes, which had now been under the rule of Ibadan 
since 1858, seized the opportunity for rebellion, a step>J 
which was soon followed by a declaration of warj 
against Ibadan by Ilorin. The Mohammedans of I 
Ilorin rapidly invaded the country and laid siege tO| 
Ofa, a town situated some twenty miles to the north- 
east of tlie city of Ibadan, and the Ibadans were-^ 
obliged to withdraw their army of invasion from Egba 
in order to defend their own territory, which was now 
threatened from three sides, The Egbas, however, 
did not follow up the retreating force, and, indeed,] 
took no further part in the war, they being held i 
check by the fe.nr of leaving Abeokuta unprotected 
against Dabomi, which power had been in the habip 
of making annual demonstrations in its vicinity fori 
some years past; and the struggle was continued J 
between Ibadan, on the one side, and Ilorin, Ijesa, th^ 
Ekiti tril>ea, and Jebu, on the other, 

Ibadan secured the support of Modakeke and IfeJ 
two populous towns situated on hills on the opposite i 
sides of a small stream, to the south-west of Ijesa, und 

IXTIiODUCTOHY. 23 

tbe war continued for some years without any great 
advantage being gained by either side. The Moda- 
were stauncl] allies of the Ibadans, but the 
sympathies of the Ifes were rather with the Ijesa and 
the Ekiti tribes, with whom they had been in alliance 
during the war which terminated in 1858. Their 
situation, however, made them afraid of coming to an 
open rupture with Ibadan, so, in response to tbe 
demand of the Ibadans, they sent a contingent to 
the Ibadan camp, but at the same time also secretly 
sent an equal force to the camp of the Ijesas and 
Ekiti.'!. This double game could not long escape 
detection, and in 1882 the Modakekes, assisted by a 
force of Ibadans, attacked Ife, and the town, which 
was regarded as holy, and the cradle of the Yoruba 
race, was destroyed. The Ifes now openly joined the 
enemies of Ibadan, but most of the tribes had by this 
time become heartily sick of the jirolonged struggle, 
and in 1883 a body of Jebus wlio were encamped on 
the Omi River made peace with the Ibadans on their 
own account, and returned homo. Tbe Au-ujah of 
Jebu Ode, paramount chief of the two Jebu provinces, 
was so alarmed at this event that he fled from the 
town of Jebu Ode, which he was by law forbidden to 
leave, and took refuge at Epi. Here he was invited 
by the Jebu elders to commit suicide; he proved 
docile, and a new Amijale was elected by tbe peace 
party. His election, however, was not approved by 
the war party, and a strong force of Jebus, under the 
seriki, or second war chief, still kept the field against 

>adan. 

The war, which was really only a succession p* 

^ — I 

:U TJIE YOIiUBA-Sl'EAKING PEOPLES. 

Hkir-niiBhes at long intervals, dragged on till 1884, 
wbon the Governor of Lagos was asked to mediate 
and secure a peace. In 1886 this request was renewed 
by all the combatants except Ilorin, and the Governor 
accordingly acted as mediator, with the result that 
representatives from the different tribes assembled at 
Lagos, and on June 4th an agreement was signed, of 
which the following were the chief points : 

(1) Ibadan, Ijesa, and the Ekiti tribes to respec- 
tively retain their independence. 

(2) The four Ekiti towns of Otan, Tresi, Ada, and 
Igbajo to be ceded to Ibadan, on the understanding 
that the present inhabitants were at liberty to leave 
them. 

(3) The town of Modakeke to be reconstructed on 
territory between the Oshun and Oba rivers, to the 
north of its then situation ; such of the inhabitants as 
elected to pass under the rule of Ibadan moving to 
the new site, and those who preferred to become 
subject to Ife living in Ife territory, but not in 
Modakeke, which was to be dealt with by the Ifea as 
they thought St. 

The belligerents were at this time established in six 
large camps, the chief being those at Kiji and Oke 
Mesi, situated about a mile apart upon opposite sides 
of a mountainous valley in the north of Ijesa, the 
former occupied by the Ibadans and the latter by the 
Ijesas and Ekiti tribes. The Ibadans had another 
camp at Ikirun, about fifteen miles west of Kiji, 
between the two arms of the Erinle River, where they 
confronted the Ilorins, who were encamped at Ofa, 
eighteeu miles to the north. The Modakekes, with 

IXTRODUCTORY. l^■) 

an Ibadan contingent, were at Modakeke watching 
the Ifes, who, with the Jebu force under the Serlhi^ 
were encamped about two miles to the south. In 
accordance with the terms of the agreement, Com- 
missioners were sent to the interior by the Grovcrn- 
ment of Lagos to take steps to break up the camps. 
These proved to be towns rather than camps, since 
they consisted of the ordinary mud-walled houses of 
the natives, were defended by loop-holed mud walls, 
and contained many thousands of women and children. 
The Ibadan camp at Kiji, which had been in existence 
for seven years, Avas estimated to contain between 
50,000 and 60,000 inhabitants, at least two-thirds of 
whom were non-combatants, and the Oke Mesi camp 
40,000. These two camps were evacuated and burned 
on September 28th, 1886, their occupants returning to 
their former homes ; but an unexpected obstacle was 
now offered by the Modakekes, who first asked for a 
delay, and then positively refused to carry out the 
agreement and quit their town, alleging that they 
could not leave the spot where their forefathers were 
buried. The fact was they feared that if they 
remained on the soil of Ife, the Ifes Avould revenge 
themselves upon them for the destruction of the holy 
city, and that if they moved to Ibadan territory the 
Ibadans would enslave them ; and after some further 
delay, the Commissioners, finding there was no pro- 
spect of the Modakekes keeping their promise, returned 
to Lagos. The Ilorins had not been parties to the 
agreement of June 4th, but the Commissioners 
endeavoured to arrange a peace between them and 
the Ibadans, and induce them to abandon their 

THE YOnUHA-SPKAKlNG PEOPLES. 

camps at Ofa and Ikirun; this, however, did 
succeed, and the war between these two tribes cott' 
tinned. 

In the meantime, while the interior had been dis- 
turbed by these protracted native wars, the colony of 
Lagos had received further extensions, Ketonu, a 
district on the eastern shores of LakeDcnhara Waters, 
having at the request of the natives, who feared 
Frencli aggression, been declared British in January, 
18S0 ; while Appa, which lies between Ketonu and 
Badagry, was placed within the Britisli jurisdiction in 
1883. By Letters Patent, dated 13th January, 1886, 
Lagos was made a separate colony, independent of the 
government of the Gold Coast. 

In 1888, in consequence of the reported intrigues 
of the French in Abeokuta, who were said to have 
offered to tolerate slavery, and to pay an annual sub- 
sidy, if the Egbas would place themselves under French; 
protection, efforts were made to have the limits of 
British and French territory and spheres of influence 
defined, with the result that articles of arrangement 
for the delimitation of the English and French posses-' 
sions on the West Coast of Africa were signed at 
Paris, on August 10th, 1889. The fourth article 
defined the territories and spheres of influence on 
the Slave Coast, the line of demarcation being the 
meridian which intersects the territory of Porto 
Novo at the Ajarra Creek, and extending from the 
sea to the ninth degree of north latitude. By 
this arrangement the eastern half of Appa, with 
its capital, and Pokra, became British, while the 
western half of Appa, together with Ketonu, became 

J 

jyTnoDUCTon r. 27 

French. Egba and Okeodan fell within the British 
sphere of influence, and Ketu within that of the 
French. 

The war between Ibadan and Ilorin still lingered 
on, and, in 1889, Mr. Millson, the Assistant Colonial 
Secretary, was sent to the interior to endeavour to 
arrange a meeting between the Governor of Lagos and 
the belligerents in order to bring these hostilities 
to an end, but, as the chiefs declined to enter into 
any negotiations with the Commissioner, the mission 
failed. 

Although Abeokuta had now been definitely placed 
within the British sphere of influence there was no 
improvement in the relations between the Egbas and 
the Lagos government. In January, 1891, a great 
political meeting was held at Abeokuta, at which the 
old charge that the government connived at or encou- 
raged the annual inroads of Dahomi was revived, and 
some European missionaries were expelled. A Com- 
missioner from the government was sent to Abeokuta 
in August, but achieved no results, and in January, 
1892, the Egbas declared all their trade routes, both 
to the coast and to the interior, closed, and ceased all 
commercial relations with the colony. A further 
attempt on the part of the government to open nego- 
tiations was made in the following month, but com- 
pletely failed, and at a meeting of Egba chiefs, held 
on the 13th of April, the proposal to reopen the trade 
routes to Lagos was unanimously negatived. 

While afEairs had been in this unsatisfactory state 
in the western portion of the sphere of British influ- 
ence, a dispute with the Jebus had sprung up in the 

28 rilK YOnVBA-SPEAKIXG PEOPLES. 

east. The Ejinrin market, situated about ten miles 
east of Epi, was closed b_v the Awujale of Jebu Ode 
on account of some disagreement with the people of 
Lagos; and though, in October, ISflO, in consequence 
of representations made by the government of Lagos, 
it was formally opened by the Governor and represen- 
tatives sent by the Awujale, the Jebus made this con- 
cession unwiUingly, and bad no intention whatever of 
departing from their policy of excluding foreigners 
from the interior of their country. Consequently, 
when, in May, I8!tl, the Acting Governor, Captain 
Denton, C.M.G., left Lagos with an escort of Hausaa 
to proceed on a mission to Jebu Ode, with the object 
of coming to some agreement for the opening of the 
country to commerce, the Jebus refused to allow the 
party to enter their territory, on the plea that they 
feared hostile action. The Awujale not only refused 
to treat, but rejected the presents offered on behalf 
of the British (Government, fearing, no doubt, that 
to accept them would entail some concession on hi3 
part. 

Upon this affair being referred to the Home Govern- 
ment, the Governor was instructed to demand an 
apology from the Jebus for the so-called insult offered 
to the Acting Governor, and t-o insist upon a free right 
of way through Jebu country. The Awujale was to 
be informed that, if these terms were not complied 
with, force would be used. In December, 1801, this 
ultimatum was conveyed to the Awujale by an officer 
of the Lagos Constabulary, and tlie Awujale then 
consented to send to Lagos representatives fully 
empowered to make the apology and sign a treaty. 

rXTRODrCTOEY. 29 

In January, 1892, the representatives arrived, and 
on the 21st made a formal apology, and signed an 
agreement to maintain a free and unrestricted right- 
of-way for persons and goods through Jebn territory; 
the Government of the Colony undertaking to pay 
the Jebus an annual sum of £500 in compensation 
for the duties they bad been accustomed to levy on 
goods. 

For a short time the Jebus observed their treaty 
engagements, and one member of the Church 
Missionary Society was allowed to pass through 
Jebu Ode on his way to the interior; but when, 
soon afterwards, in the month of February, another 
missionary attempted to pass through the capital he 
was ill-used and sent back. A pai-ty of Ibadan 
carriers, who sought to pass through from the north, 
was also turned back. The Awujale asserted that 
the Ibadans had been insolent, but it was evident 
that the young men of the tribe were determined to 
maintain the old Jebu policy of isolation. The 
Jebus were a turbulent and proud nation, and they 
considered it disgraceful to observe engagements 
which had been extorted from them by threats. In 
consequence of these breaches of the treaty, the 
Inspector- General of the Lagos Constabulary was 
sent to the Awujale to ask for explanations. He 
landed at Itoike, but was not allowed to proceed 
any further, the Awujale sending to say that he did 
Bot wish " to palaver " with the Lagos Government. 

The Home Government now authorised the em- 
poyment of force. Special-service officers were sent 
lUt from England, two officers and 155 men of the 

30 Tin-: YORVJiA-SPE.XKhSG PEOPLES. 

Glold Coast Constabulary were ordered from Accra, 
and three officei-s and ninety-nine men of the lafc 
Battalion West India Regiment were despatched From 
Sierra Leone. These, with 165 of the Lagos Con- 
stabulary, and an Ibadan Contingent of 100 men, 
making a total combatant force of about 500, left 
Lagos, under the command of Colonel F. C. Scott, 
C.B., on the 12th of May, and disembarked at Epi 
without opposition on the day following. On the 
16th the column advanced from Epi ; there was a 
slight skirmish at Pobo on the same day, another at 
Kpashida next day, and on the 18tli the forca 
encamped at Majoda, 

Next morning the Jebus were found in position, 
ready to defend the passage of the Oshun River, and 
an action commenced at 7 a.m. The fire of the 
Jebus not only swept the ford, which they had 
deepened by digging out the bed of the stream, but 
also the narrow bush-track which led to it, and 
was exceedingly heavy and well sustained. It was 
reported that they had offered a human sacrifice to the 
goddess of the river, to enlist her aid against the 
invaders, and this had so powerful an effect upon the 
suporstitious minds of the constabulary, that for a full 
hour they could not be induced to enter the stream ; 
and it was not until the West Indians, who had been 
held in reserve, were ordered up to lead the way 
across the Oshun, that the enemy's position was 
carried. Between the river and the village of Mag- 
bon, which the victors entered shortly after 10 a.m., 
was found the camp which the Jebus had occupied 
the previous night. It was estimated to have accom- 

INTRODCCTOJiY. 31 

modated from 5,000 to G.OOO persons, and as about 
half the occupants of a native camp are women and 
non-combatants, the passage of the river was pro- 
bably disputed by about 3,000 mon. The Jebu losses 
were supposed to be severe, but the British force lost 
only three killed and twenty-four wounded, exclusive 
of carriers. 

On the 20th of May the advance was resumed soon 
after daybreak, and, being met by a fia^ of truce, the 
force occupied the town of Jebu Ode the same day 
without resistance. It was about four miles in cir- 
cumference, defended by a mud wall, and contained 
in time of peace about 15,000 inhabitants, all of 
whom, with the exception of the Awujale and his 
immediate following, had now fled. On the 25th, 
the Governor arrived from Lagos to conduct the 
negotiations with the Awujale, who made complete 
Bubmiesion, alleging that the young men had fought 
contrary to his wishes and orders; and, on the 30th 
and 31st, the expeditionary force, with the exception 
of three officers and 140 men of the Constabulary, who 
remained in occupation of Jebu Ode, left for Lagos, 
one column marching through Sagamu and Ikoradu, 
and another through Itoike. 

The trade routes on the east were now opened, 
but those through Egba country still remained closed, 
and for some time it was thought that a miHtary 
expedition agaiust Abeokuta would be necessary. 
The ease with which the Jebus, who were considered 
a very powerful tribe, had been punished, had, how- 
ever, made a profound impression upon the native 
mind, and many British subjects of Egba descent at 

32 THE ronUBA-SPEAKlXG PEOPLE.-^, 

Lagos, fearing that, if the cbiefs of Abeokuta main- 
tained their mifriendlj attitude, the independence of 
Egba would be lost, strongly impressed upon their- 
compatriots the necessity of coming to terms. In, 
consequence, the Egbas declared their willingness to 
receive the Governor, Mr. Carter, and come to somd 
arrangement, with the result that on the 16th of 
January, 1893, a treaty was signed at Abeokuta. 
The Egbas undeiiook to refer all disputes between! 
themselves and British subjects to the Governor for 
settlement, to establish complete freedom of trade 
between Egba country and Lagos, and to close no 
trade route without the consent of the Governor. 
They also promised to abolisb human sacrifice, and 
not to cede any portion of Egba territoiy to a foreign 
power without the consent of the British. On tha 
other hand, Great Britain guaranteed that the i^de-^ 
pendence of Egba should be fully recognised, and no 
annexation of any portion of it be made without th^ 
consent of the Egba authorities. 

There is a considerable difference between the 
Yoruba-speaking Peoples and the Ewe-speaking 
Peoples. We still find the characteristics which wero; 
dominant among the latter, namely, indolence, impro* 
vidence, and duplicity, but they are no longer so 
pronounced, probably, almost certainly, because life 
and property are more secure. The Yoruba has more 
independence of character than the Tshis, Gas, or 
Ewes, and servility is rare. He even has the senti- 
ments of nationality and patriotism, and though these 
are regarded with disfavour by the Colonial Govern- 
ment, they are none the less tokens of superiority. 

INTRODUCTORY. 83 

He is a keener trader, is more sociable, and is in all 
respects socially higher than the tribes of the other 
three cognate groups. This is in a great measure 
due to the physical characteristics of the country. 
There being but little forest, except in the eastern 
districts, communication is easy, and the territory 
is moreover opened up by several rivers. Instead, 
then, of being dispersed in a number of inconsiderable 
hamlets, which are mere specks in a vast and impene- 
trable forest, the Yorubas have been able to live in 
towns, each of which is within easy communication 
of others. No doubt their superior social instincts 
first caused them to congregate in towns, and now 
many generations of town life has further developed 
them. There is even a certain amount of loyalty in 
the Yoruba, a quality for which one might look in 
vain among the Ewe tribes. Without saying that 
the Yorubas are more intelligent, we can safely say 
that their intellect is more cultivated ; the asperities 
of savage life are softened, the sharper angles are 
worn down by frequent intercourse with their fellow- 
men, and at the present day they are certainly the 
leading people in West Africa.

Chief Gods. 

The tendency which we noted in the ease of the Ewe- 
speaking peoples to replace gods which were purely 
local, and only worshipped by those dwelling in the 
vicinity, by tribal gods, and by gods worshipped by an 
entire people, has in the case of the Yoniba tribes 
been very fidly developed, and all the gods possessing 
any importance are known to and worshipped by the 
Yoruba-speaking peoples as a whole. The effect o£ 
increasing the number of general objects of worship 
has been to diminish the importance of the local 
objects of worship, the genii loci, who, except in Jebu 
and in some of the remoter districts, have been so 
shorn of their power as now to be scarcely above 
the level of the fairies and water- sprites of mediseval 
England, or, which is perhaps a closer parallel, of the 
Naiads and Hama-dryads of ancient Greece. This 
of course is what was to be expected, for the general 
objects of worship govern, between them, all the 
phenomena which most nearly affect mankind ; and 
the special function of each genius loci is thus now 
vested in some other god, who is believed to be more 
powerful, because he is worshipped over a larger 
area and has a more numerous following. Gods,! 

^^1< 

CHIEF IIODS. 35 

however, which are purely tutelar have not been so 
much affected, and tutelary dieties of towns and of 
individuals are still common; because the native, 
while enrolling himself as a follower of a general god, 
likes also to have a protector whose sole business is to 
guard his interests ; and who, though his power may 
be limited, is not likely to be distracted by the claims 
of others to his attention. 

Tlie t^rm used by the Yoruba tiibes to express a 
superhuman being, or god, is orisha, and as it is 
used equally to express the images and sacred objects, 
and also as an adjective with the meaning of sacred 
or holy, it answers exactly to the Tshi term bohswm, the 
Ga Wong, and the Ewe codu. The word orisha seems 
to be compounded of oii (summit, top, head) and nha 
(to select, choose) ; though some natives prefer to 
derive it fi-om rl (to see) and inha (selection, choice), 

.d thus to make it mean " One who sees the cidt." 

(1) OLOlflX. 

Olorun is the sky-god of the Yorabas, that is, he is 
the deiBed firmament, or personal sky, just as Nyan- 
kupon is to the Tahis, Nyonmo to the Gas, and Mawu 
to the Ewes. As was mentioned in the last volume, 
the general bias of the negro mind has been in favour 
of selecting the firmament for the chief Nature- 
god, instead of the Sun, Moon, or Earth ; and in this 
respect the natives resemble the Aryan Hindus, 
Greeks, and Romans, with whom Dyaus pitar, Zeus, 
and Jupiter equally represented the firmament.* 

B Tsliis and GSs use tlic worils Nyankiipon and Nyonmo to 
iky, rain, or thunder nnd lightniii;^, and tlip VAvb imd 

30 Till-: voni'itA-si'tJAiayG picurn::^. 

Nyankupon and Nyoniiio tlumder and lighten as 
well as pour out rain, but Olorun, like the Ewe 
Mawu, does not wield the thunderbolt, which has 
become the function of a, special thunder-god, and 
he consequently haa suffered some reduction in 
importance. The name Olorun means " Owner of 
the Sky " {oni, one who possesses, whh., sky, firmament, 
cloud*), and the sky is believed to be a solid body, 
curving over the earth so as to cover it with a 
vaulted roof. 

Like Nyankupon, Nyonnio, and Mawn, Olorun is 
considered too distant, or too indifferent, to interfere 
in the affairs of the world. The natives say that he 
enjoys a life of complete idleness and repose, a 
blissful condition according to their ideas, and passes 
his time dozing or sleeping. Since he is too lazy or 
too indifferent to exercise any control over earthly 
affairs, man on his side does not waste time in 
endeavouring to propitiate him, but reserves his 
worship and sacrifice for more active agents. Hence 
Olonm has no priests, symbols, images, or temples, 

Yoruban, the wonis Mawu and Olorun lo express the two forraer. 
The Tshi ])CopIeB say N iianhiipoii bom (Nyuiikujioii knocks) ; " It is 
thundering"; Nyankupon aba (Njankiipon lias come), " It is rain- 
ing " t and the G8 peoples, Nyonnio kimeUs (thunders), Nyonino 
ponra, Nyonmo driEzlcc, &c., wliile in just the same way tho Ancient 
Greeks ascribed these plieiiomenn tu Zeus, nho snowed, rained, hailed, 
gathered clf>udg, and thundered. Nyankupon has for epitlieU the 
following : Amo»u (Giver of Bain); Amovua (Uiver of Sunshine) ; 
Telereboeiifu ( Widc-speading Creator of Water), and T^oduampon, 
which setiUB to mean " Stretched-ont Roof" {Tyo, to draw or drag, 
dua, wood, and pon, flat surface). 

• The ti in otii, or ni, always eliangea lo I before the vowels a, e. tt, 
and u. Sec Chapter on Lnngnage, Verbs (6), 

CHIEF GODS, 37 

and though, in times of calamity or affliction, when 
the other gods have turned a deaf ear to his supplica- 
tions, a native will, perhaps, as a last resource, invoke 
Olorun, such occasions are rare, and as a general 
rule the god is not worshipped or appealed to. The 
name Olorun, however, occurs in one or two set 
phrases or sentences, which appear to show that at 
one time greater regard was paid to him. For 
instance, the proper reply to the morning salutation, 
" Have you risen well ? " is yin Olorun^ " Thanks 
to Olorun ; " and the phrase " May Olorun protect 
you" is sometimes heard as an evening salutation. 
The former seems to mean that thanks are due to the 
sky for letting the sun enter it ; and the latter to be 
an invocation of the firmament, the roof of the world, 
to remain above and protect the earth during the 
night. Sometimes natives will raise their hands and 
cry, " Olorun, Olorun ! " just as we say, " Heaven 
forbid ! " and with an equal absence of literal meaning. 
Olorun has the following epithets : — 

(1) Oga^ogo {Oga^ distinguished or brave person; 
ogo, wonder, praise). 

(2) Olmco {ni'Oivo) " Venerable one." 

(3) Eleda {da^ to cease from raining), "He who 
controls the rain." 

(4) Elemij " a living man," literally " he who 
possesses breath." It is a title appHed to a servant 
or slave, because his master's breath is at his mercy ; 
and it is in this sense also that it is used to Olorun, 
because, if he were evilly disposed, he could let fall 
the solid firmament and crush the world. 

(5) Olodumaye or Olodumare. The derivation of 

V 

'/ A'/ 

.* C .' ' " •* .1- ' -^ ' - 

.1 - f _ ■ -' i - J 

ru^M.wv . 

• ■•."■ 

' I. 

i-.:j-: 

J' :ri<;> */i. !!iJ*:'i'»'i*-. " M.' . 

«.<•' <;<;...'>'-'. >' f i . •'•• . -*^'* '.:_:^'.. 11.2 M^'wr: lobe 
t?.<; '■•...'..'.vr; V* ^ ^ w. '.', . Ij-.* Ol'.m is merely a 

' • -' • • ■ • 

<y/f.»r'y".- ;.M;;.v\<r.'.:i ';v;..'.':V-r': .T- ::.'r :.iaT!ve mind with 
t»-<- /■'/.'^ 'y? ■.:.^- wo.'-.',". iJ.'r :• :,ot :n aiiv sense an 
ou^iA'yAn:*.'^ o'.!:.'/. 'J :.--. ■- v..;.] ^rxenji'lified 1»t the 
j/rovi'th v^'s..*:*i ^-Js'. -. '' A :r.a:j r.-a:jLiOT cause rain to 
f;<IJ, ;aij'j Oi*j:";!i rhi^s^^A '/:vf: vou a child/' which 
infriitii'. tjjat, j^i-r a- a j/jajj r-ai:iiOt p<:rform the functions 
of OJ'yi'ij/j aii'i r'aii-<r lain to fall, so Olorun cannot 
foi'i/< a oliiJ'J j/i l)j<r vi'onib, iljat bc-irj;;r the function of 
iUi', pro<l Obatala, v, Ijoiu wir hLall next describe. In 
flirt, I'arli prod, Oloriiij iijcludr;d, has, as it were, his 
own dii 
p. 36. 

' Note ftt. 

CHIEF GODS. 47 

made another god, namely, Indra, offspring of Dyaiis, 
wield the lightning. 

The notion we found amongst the Ewes that a bird- 
like creature was the animating entity of the thunder- 
stonn has no parallel here, and Shango is purely 
acthropomorphic. He dwells in the clouds in an 
immense brazen palace, where he maintains a large 
retinue and keeps a great number of horses ; for, 
besides being the thunder-god, he is also the god of 
the chase and of pillage.* From his palace, Shango 
hurls npon those who have offended him red-hot 
chains of iron, which are forged for him by his 
brother Ogun, god of the river Ogim, of iron and of 
(Far; but this, it should be observed, is seemingly a 
modern notion, and the red-hot chains furnished by 
Ogun have a suspicious resemblance to the thunder- 
bolts of Jupiter, forged by Vulcan. The Yoruba 
word for lightning is viava-maiia (ma-ina, a making 
of fire), and has no connection either with iron (inn) 
or a chain (ewon) ; while the name Jakuta shows that 
Shango is believed to hurl stones and not iron. The 
iron-chain notion, therefore, appears to have been 
borrowed from some foreign source, and, moreover, 
not to yet have made much progress. The Oni- 
Shango, or Priests of Shango,t in tbeir chants always 
speak of Shango as hurling stones ; and whenever a 
house is struck by lightning they rush in a body to 
tillage it and to find the stone, which, as they take 

• Hunting and tininder w 

ei-c likewise tli 

functions of the Azt<'c 

3, or godJcss, Mixcontl. 

(Nndaillac, 

"Prehistoric America," 

898.) 

f Oni, one who possesses- o 

r gets. 

48 THE YUUCIiA-Sl'EAKlNO PEOPLES. 

it with them secretly, they always succeed in doing. 
A chant of the Oni-Shango very commonly heard is, 
" Ob, Shango, thou art the master. Thou takest in 
thy hand thy fiery stones, to punish the guilty aud 
satisfy thine anger. Everything that they strike is 
tiestroyed. Their fire eats up the forest, the trees 
are broken down, aud all living creatures are slain; " 
and the lay-worshippers of Shango flock into the 
streets during a thunderstorm crying, " Shango, 
Shango, Great King ! Shango is the lord and master. 
In the storm he hurls his fiery stones against his 
enemies, and their track gleams in the midst of the 
darkness." "May Shango's stone strike you," is a 
very common imprecation. 

According to some natives, Oshumare, the Rainbow, 
is the servant of Shango, his office being to take up 
water from the earth to the palace in the clouds. He 
has a messenger named Ara, '* Thunder-clap," whom 
he sends out with a loud noise. A small bird called 
papagon is sacred to Shango, and his worshippers 
profess to be able to understand its cry. 

Shango married three of his sisters : Oya, the Niger ; 
Oshun, the river of the same name, which rises in 
Ijeaa and flows into the water-way between Lagos 
and the Lekki lagoon, near Emina; and Oba, also a 
river, which rises in Ibadan and flows into the Kradu 
Water. All three accompany their liusband when he 
goes out, Oya taking with her her messenger Af^e 
(the Wind, or Gale of AVind), and Oshun and Oba 
carrying his bow and sword. Shango's slave Birl 
(Darkness) goes in attendance. 

The image of Shango generally represents him as a 

VHIEl^ GODS. +9 

man standing, and is surrounded by images, smaller 
in size, of his three wives ; who are also represented as 
standing up, with the palms of their hands joined 
together in front of the bosom. Oxen, sheep, and 
fowls are the offerings ordinarily made to Shango, 
and, on important occasions, human beings. His 
colours are red and white. He is consulted with 
sixteen cowries, which are thrown on the ground, 
those which lie with the back uppermost being favour- 
able, and those with the back downward the reverse. 
He usually goes armed with a club called oshe, made 
of the wood of the ayan tree, which is so hard that a 
proverb says, " The ayan tree resists the axe." In 
consequence of his club being made of this wood, the 
tree is sacred to him. 

The priests and followers of Shango wear a wallet, 
emblematic of the plundering propensities of their 
lord, and the chief priest is called Magha, " The 
Receiver." As amongst the Ewe tribes, a house 
struck by lightning is at once invaded and plundered 
by the disciples of the god, and a fine imposed on the 
occupants, who, it is held, must have offended him. 
Persons who are killed by lightning may not, pro- 
perly speaking, be buried; but if the relations of the 
deceased offer a sufficient payment, the priests usually 
allow tbe corpse to lie redeemed and buried. Indi- 
viduals rendered insensible by lightning are at once 
despatched by the priests, the accident being regarded 
as proof positive that Shango requires them. A 
common idea is that Shango is subject to fretpient 
outbursts of ungovernable temper, during which 
he thumps and bangs overhead, and hurls down 

stones at ttose wlio have given him cause 
offence. 

The foregoing are, with the exception of the myl 
of the fiery chains, the old ideas respecting Shango 
but on to them are now rapidly becoming graft* 
some later myths, which make Shango an earthly- 
king who afterwards became a god. This Shango 
was King of Oyo, capital of Yoruba, and became bo 
unbearable through rapacity, cruelty, and tyranny, 
that the chiefs and people at last sent him a calabash 
of parrots' egge, in accordance with the custom tbati 
has already been mentioned ; with a message that he 
must be fatigued with the cares of government, and 
that it was time for him to go to sleep. On receiving 
this intimation, Shango, instead of allowing himself to 
be quietly strangled by his wives, defied public opinion 
and endeavoured to assemble his adherents; and, when 
this failed, sought safety in flight. He left the 
palace by night, intending to endeavour to reach 
Tapa, beyond the Niger, which was his mother's 
native place ; and was accompanied only by one wife 
and one slave, the rest of his household having 
deserted him. During the night the wife repented of 
her hasty action, and also left him ; so, when in the 
morning Shango found himself lost in the midst of a 
pathless forest, he had no one with him but his slave.. 
They wandered about without food for some days,' 
seeking in vain for a path which would lead them out., 
of the forest, and at last Shango left his slave, saying, 
" Wait here till I return, and we will then try further." 
After waiting a long time, the slave, as his master did 
not appear, went in search of him, and before long- 

k 

aUEF GODS. 

found his corpse hanging by the neck from an ayan- 
tree. Eventually the slave succeeded in extricating 
himself from the forest, and finding himself in a part 
of the country he knew, made his way towards Oyo, 
where he told the news. 

When the chiefs and elders heard that Shango had 
hanged himself they were much alarmed, fearing that 
they would he held responsible for his death. They 
went, in company with the priests, to the place where 
the slave had left the body, but were unable to find 
it, for it was no longer on the tree. They searched 
in every direction, and at last found a deep pit in the 
eai'th, from which the end of an iron chain protruded. 
They stooped over the pit and listened, and could 
hear Shango talking down in the earth. They at 
once erected a small temple over the pit, and leaving 
some priests there to propitiate the new god, and 
establish a worship, returned to Oyo, where they pro- 
claimed : " Shango is not dead. Ho has become an 
oriska. He has descended into the earth, and lives 
among the dead people, with whom we have heard him 
conversing." Some of the townspeople, however, 
being ignorant and foolish, did not believe the story, 
and when the criers cried, " Shango is not dead," 
they laughed and shouted in return, " Shango is 
dead. Shango hanged himself." In consequence 
of this wicked conduct, Shango came in person, 
with a terrific thunderstorm, to punish them for 
their behaviour ; and, in order to show his power, 
he killed many of the scoffers with his fiery 
Stones, and set the town on fire. Then the 
priests and elders ran about among the burning 
E 2 

men oa^r jr: i:r'-T :::3«:ii - i -" TZ-rir i:i:}»rlief- Bfe B 

Toni' Iioiises Tirj. I115 Irr^ ^rin-rs reniLse "tco. liid not 
rindicate ois V^.^Tir."' Y-Itil t1i- "rrrtilact? fell apn 
the ^co^ers az-.: 'rear "Vm ": iT-j^rli. ^" :*.iar Siuuigo 
xa.^ appea-sei. dz-i zis .iz:r*r!T "imir-i 1^-17. Tlie place 
xhere r^'canj?:' ie^otfZ'iei jzt: riie rarrli T^ds called 
Kiiso, and >ooil ■:'ei:azie 1 :: tz. f.r oiaiiT :}€*jpLe went 
to dwell there. 

Perhaps this mvrli rfallj ires r^rfrr t-: -M^cie former 
King of Oyo, tcr-ig'':! ^^r- -i-:..--! a kiz^ sliofilii usurp 
the functions ot rze Lb."z:d»r7-i7:*:. is z-rc at all clear. 
It is inconsistent in part. ::r :: ziak-f-s rhe coiefe and 

elders alarmed at the siioidv cz >zaz^?. because thev 

• 

feared to ]?e held resrozsible f.:r Lis death : vet thev 
would have been equally respozsible ba-i he complied 
with established custom, and oonrnTrted szicide when 
he received the parrots' eeirs they sent him. The fact 
of the ayan being sacrevl to the god Shango, no doubt 
caused that tree to be selected for the leeendarv suicide 
of the king Shango ; and the iron chain which pro- 
tnided from the hole in the ground was probably 
Hijgge.sted by the notion of red-hot chains of lightning. 
As wo liave said, this myth is rapidly becoming blended 
with the older ones, and, in consequence of these events 
fiaving taken place at Kuso, Shaugo has the title of 
Oha^KuMo, " King of Kuso." 

Anofber myth makes Shango the son of Obatala, 
nrtd mnrrml to the three river goddesses Oya, Oshun, 
iind ()l>», but reigning as an earthly king at Oyo. The 
Htory n^latcft that one day Shango obtained from his 

CHIEF GODS. 

father Obatala a powerful charm, which, when eaten, 
woald enable him to vanquish all who opposed him. 
' Sliango ate most of the medicament, and then gave 
' the rest to Oya to keep for him ; but she, as soon as 
' his back was turned, ate the rest herself. Next morn- 
ing the chiefs and elders assembled at the palace as 
^ usual, to judge the affairs of the people, and each 
' spoke in his turn ; but when it came to Shaugo's turn 
* to speak, flames burst forth from his mouth, and all 
fled in terror. Oya, too, when she began to scold her 
" women in the palace, similarly belched forth flames, so 
that everybody ran away, and the palace was deserted. 
' Shango now saw that he was, as a god, inferior to 
I none; so calling his three wives to him, and taking in 
his hand a long iron-ehain, he stamped on the earth 
till it opened under him, and descended into it with 
his wives. The earth closed again over them, after 
they had gone down, but the end of the chain was left 
jjrotniding from the ground. 

This myth well exemplifies the confusion that has 
now been created in men's minds between the thunder- 
god proper and the demi-god, the result being a kind 
of compound Shango, possessing attributes of each. 
The Shango of this story resembles in his marital 
relations the thunder-god, but the descent into the 
earth with the iron chain, the end of which is left 
above ground, is like the legendary descent of the 
deified king, and is probably only another version of 
the same event. It is probable that contact with 
Mohammedans has had something to do with the 
invention of this myth. The genii, as we read of 
them in the " Ai-abian Nights," are frequently de- 
scribed as breathing forth flames to destroy their 

'L 

4. 

THE YOItUBA-SPEAICING PEOPLES. 

opponents; and a descent into the earth, which opei 
when stamped upon, is a mode of exit often found 
the same collection. These ideas do not appear 
be ones at all likely to have arisen spontaneously 
the negro mind, and we find nothing of the sort in tl 
groups cognate to the Yoruba. Moreover, a th\md( 
god must, from the very nature of his being, li' 
above the earth amongst tlio clouds ; and to make hi 
descend into the bowels of the earth, is to pi 
him in a situation where he could not exercise tl 
functions of his office. These remarks equally apply 
to the following myth. 

Since his descent into the earth with his threS 
wives at Oyo, Shango has often come back to tha 
world. One day, when down in the earth, he quar- 
relled with Oya, who had stolen some of his " medii 
cines ; " and she, terrified at his violence, ran away, 
and took refuge with her brother the Sea-Goi 
(Olokun). As soon as Shango discovered where siv 
had gone, he swore a great oath to beat her so thrt 
she would never forget it. Next morning he canrt 
up from below with the Sun, and, following him in 
his course all the day, arrived with him in the evening 
at the place where the sea and sky join, and so 
descended with him into the territories of his brother 
Olokun. The Sun had not knowingly shown Shango 
the road across the sky to Olokun's palace, for Shanj_ 
had been careful to keep behind him all the tim< 
nearly out of sight, and to hide when the Sun look* 
round. 

When Shango reached Olokun's palace and saw 
wife Oya there, he made a great noise and commotio: 

CHIEF CObH. 55 

He rushed towards her to seize her, but Olokun held 
Ilim; and while the two were struggling together Oya 
escaped, and ran to hide with her sister Olosa (the 
Lagoon). When Olokun saw that Oja had gone he 
released Shango, who, now more furious than ever, 
ran after his wife cursing and threatening her. In 
liis rage he tore up the trees bj their roots, as he 
ran along, tossing them here and there. Oya, look- 
ing out from her sister's house, saw him coming along 
the banks of the lagoon, and, knowing that Olosa 
could not protect her, I'au out again, and fled along 
the shores towards the place where the Sun goes 
down. As she was running, and Shango coming 
behind, roaring and yelling, she saw a house near at 
hand, and, rushing into it, claimed protection of a 
man whom she found there, whoso name was Huisi. 
She begged Huisi to defend lier. Huisi asked what 
he, a man, could do against Hhango ; but Oya gave 
him to eat of the " medicines " she had stolen from 
her husband, and he, being thus made an orisha-t 
promised to protect her. As Shango approached, 
Hniai ran from his house down to the banks of the 
lagoon, and tearing up a large tree by the roots, 
brandished it in the air, and defied Shango. There 
being no other tree there, Shango seized Huisi'a 
canoe, shook it like a club, and the two weapons, 
striking together, were shattered to pieces. Then 
the two 01-ishas wrestled together. Flames burst 
from their mouths, and their feet tore great fissures 
itt the earth as they dragged each other to and fro. 
This struggle lasted a long time without cither being 
able to gain the mastery, and at last Shango, filled 

5G THE YOnUIiA-SFKAKIKG PEOPF.ES. 

with fury at being baffled, and feeling his strength 
failing, stamped on tbe earth, which opened nnder him, 
and he descended into it, dragging Huisi down with 
him. At the commencement of the combat, Oya had 
fled to Lokoro ; * she remained there, and the people 
built a temple in her honour. Huisi, who had become 
a god by virtue of the "medicine" he had eaten, 
also had a teraple erected in his honour, on the spot 
where he had fought with Shango. 

In this myth Oya steals the " medicine " and gives 
it to Huisi ; in the former one she also stole it, but 
ate it herself. lu each case it caused flames to burst 
from the mouth. 

(6) IFA. 

Ka, god of divination, who is usually termed the 
God of Palm Nuts, because sixteen palm-nuts are used 
in the process of divination, comes after Shango in 
order of eminence. The name Ifa apparently means 
something scraped or wiped off : he has the title of 
Gbangba (explanation, demonstration, proof). Ifa's 
secondary attribute is to cause fecundity : he presides 
at births, and women pray to him to be made fruitful ; 
while on this account offerings are always made to 
him before marriage, it being considered a disgrace 
not to bear children. To the native mind there is no 
conflict of function between Ifa and Obatala, for the 
former causes the woman to become i)regnant, wliile 
llie latttT forms the child in the womb, which is sup- 
posed to he a different thing altogether. 

• Near Porlo Novo. 

ilffEF aODf'. 

Iffi first appeared on the earth at Ife, but ho did not 
come from the body of Yemaja, and his parentage and 
origin are unexplained. He tried to teach the 
inhabitants of Ife bow to foretell future events, but 
they would not listen to him, so lie left the town and 
wandered about the world teaching mankind. After 
roaming about for a long time, and indulging in a 
variety of amours, Tfa fixed his residence at Ado, 
where he planted on a rock a palm-nut, from which 
sixteen palm-trees grew up at once. 

Ifa has an attendant or companion named Odu 
(? One who emulates), and a messenger called Opele 
(ope, pnzzle, or ope, palm-tree). The bandicoot 
{oketf) is sacred to him, because it lives chiefly upon 
palm-nuts. The first day of the Yornba week is Ifa's 
holy day, and is called ajo au-o, " day of the secret." 
On this day sacrifices of pigeons, fowls, and goats are 
made to him, and nobody can perform any Inisiness 
before accomplishing this duty. On very important 
occasions a human victim is immolated. 

A priest of Ifa is termed a bahalawo (baha-n!-awo), 
" Father who has the secret," and the profession is 
very lucrative, as the natives never undertake any- 
thing of importance without consulting the god, and 
always act in accordance with the answer returned. 
Hence a proverb says, " The priest who is more 
shrewd than another adopts the worship of Ifa." As 
Ifa knows all futurity, and reveals coining events to 
his faithful followers, he is considered the god of 
■wisdom, and the benefactor of mankind. He also 
instructs man how to secure the goodwill of the other 
gods, and conveys to him their wishes. His priests 

58 THE YOliUBA-SPEAKiyO PEOPLES. 

pluck all tlie liair from their bodies and sbave their 
heads, and always appear attired in white cloths. 

The general belief is that Ifa possessed the faculty 
of divination from the beginning, but there is a myth 
which makes him acquire the art from the phallic god 
Elegba. In the early days of the world, says the myth, 
there were but few people on the earth, and the gods 
found themselves stinted in the matter of sacrifices to 
Buch an extent that, not obtaining enough to eat from 
the offerings made by their followers,* they were 
obliged to have recourse to various piirsuits in order 
to obtain food. Ifa, who was in the same straits as 
the other gods, took to fishing, with, however, but 
small success ; and one day, when he had failed to 
catch any fish at all, and was very hungry, he 
consulted the crafty Elegba, who was also in want, 
as to what they could do to improve their condition. 
Klogba replied that if he could only obtain 
the sixteen palm-nuts from the two palms 
that Orungan.t the chief man, had in his planta- 
tion, ho would show Ifa how to forecast the 
future ; and that he could then use his knowledge 
in the service of mankind, and so receive an abund- 
ance of offerings. He stipulated that in return for 
instructing Ifa in rhc art of divination, he should 
always bo allowed the first choice of all offerings 
made. Ifa agreed to the bargain, and going to 
Orungan, asked for the sixteen palm-nuts, explaining 

* Ctmipiue lliU witli Lucian, " Zeas in 
ouutpWiiM that tlio BHD ca)itain Mnesitlieas 
tiuvk III (!Qt>*rliiTi HLXtocn guds. 

\ Tlji! inm iinij raTialiwr of yeiiiajit is also t 

Tragedy," where Zena 
Iiod only eacrificed one 

CHIEF GODS. 59 

to him what lie proposed to do with them. Onmgan, 
very eager to know what the future had in store for 
him, at once promised the nuts, and ran with his wife 
Orisha-bi, " Orisha-bom," to get them. The trees, 
however, were too lofty for them to be able to reach 
the palm-nuts, and the stems too smooth to be 
climbed: so ther retired to a little distance and 
drove some monkevs that were in the vicinitv into 
the palms. No sooner were the monkevs in the 
trees than they seized the nuts, and, after eating the 
red pulp that covered them, threw the hard kernels 
down on the ground, where Orungan and his wife 
picked them up. Having collected the whole sixteen, 
Orisha-bi tied them up in a piece of cloth, and put 
the bimdle under her waist-cloth, on her back, as if 
she were carrying a child. Then they carried the 
palm-nuts to Ifa. Elegba kept his promise and 
taught Ifa the art of divination, and Ifa in his turn 
taught Orungan, who thus became the first hahalaivOj 
It is in memory of these events that when a man 
wishes to consult Ifa, he takes his Avife with him, 
if he be married, and his mother if he be single, who 
carries the sixteen palm-nuts, tied up in a bimdle, 
on her back, like a child; and that the hahalawo^ 
before consulting the god, always says, " OiniiujaUy 
ajuba oh. Orisha-bi ajuba oli^ ("Orungan, I hold 
you in grateful remembrance. Orisha-bi, I hold you 
in grateful remembrance." 

For the consultation of Ifa a whitened board is 
employed, exactly similar to those used by children 
in Moslem schools in lieu of slates, about two feet 
long and eight or nine inches broad, on which are 

THE YORUliA-SPEAKIXG PEOPLES. 

marked sixteen figures. These figures are called' 
" mothers." The sixteen palm-nuts are held loosely 
in the right hand, and thrown through the half- 
closed fingers into the left hand. If one nut remain 
in the right hand, two marks are made, thus | |; 
and if two remain, one mark, j.* In this way are 
formed the sixteen " mothers," one o£ which is 
declared hy the bahalawo to represent the inquirer; 
and from the order in which the others are pro- 
duced he deduces certain results. The interpretation 
appears to be in accordance with established rule, 
but what that rule is is only known to the initiated. 
The following are the " mothers " : 

(1) Bum Meji 

1 1 
1 1 

(4) IliMeji. 
1 1 

II 11 

1 1 

1 1 

(2) YehumMeji. 

1 1 

1 1 

II II 

1 1 

(5) Loslo Meji 

1 1 

1 1 

(3) OdsUeji. 

II II 
1 1 

I 1 1 

II II 
(6) OronMeji. 

II II 

II II 

procpBB IS repeated cipht time 
in two columns of four eafh. 

CHIEF GODS. CI 

(7) AUla Meji. (12) Tare Meji. 

I I 

I I 

I I 

(8) Akala Meji. (13) Leti Meji 

I I 

(9) 8a Meji. (14) Ka Meji 

I I 

I I 

II II 

II II 

(10) Kuda Meji. (15) 8U Meji. 

I I 

I I 
I 
II II II II 

(11) Durapin Meji. (16) Fu Meji. 

I I 

II I I I 

I II I I 

I I 

a WK yoh'rn.usPEAKiiVG peoples. 

T^f». irt Nn. r> iiivorted; 8 is 7 inverted; 10, 9 

invcrff'rl ; IM, PJ inverted; and 14, 11 inverted. 

1//'// rrr/'fifiM •* I wo,*' or ** n pair," and the following 

iiiifi/'fifi I" !»•» (Ih^ moaning of the names: — (1) The 

,.|,iw. ifffif (hnni, riosoly). (2) The removed pair 

(),l,tnn, In rninnviO. 00 ^he street pair (Ode, a 

f/f.wh Mj Tlio rIos(Ml-np pair (Di, to close up, 

full M 'l/ff'hj (/i) TIh* Bqnatting-dog pair (losho, to 

. ,|.r ii hi ' M iln/r). ((>) Tlio cross-bow pair (oron, 

.,.. f»/i"; (7) TIh» Htripod pair {ahilaj striped). 

r", • VmMhm' |iMir (*i/iwAf, vulture). (9) Thepointing 

^..,n ^ '///' ('' |»HiiiM. (10) Tlu> pair ending downward 

// ' /" * r./|, ////. In ii|iMi't on tho ground). (11) ? The 

I, |. I.' I '/ (»M/r {Ihini, (o nuiko an effort to recover 

Ti r,. I htmiili* , iijiih, i»n«l, ]u)int). (12) The tattoo- 

M.<M ("»'/ ihni\ MMnu^ t)f certain tattoo-marks). 

,f., Iff "li'^ |iiiii' (A/;, on I he edge of). (14) The 

I I hi ./;/ /*mh / A*^ lo rnhl or eoil). (15) The opened 

y ,n ' III i'' '*\tt M ). ( Id) The alternate pair (/o, to 

J . -'ft ("'■'' l»v. |iMn|i ovin\ ski])). 

r. ^/» M// •/ r'i.-|ii|.n ••niollu^rs" a great many com- 

I M .'- '• • '"" '" miimIp hy Jnking a cohimn from two 

(,(!' . ^* "^MJl/ih^." nntl figures thus formed are 

,. « ' fuhin II •• TliMM (i;i) nnd (2) and (11) and 

II III 

I I 
I i I 

I I 

^ Oy^ hinnm inn vtw\ {mm right to left, the 
''^'Vfh f^ j//o)m(/ly i|»Tive«| Trom the Moh(immedans. 

CHIEF GODS. 63 

James Hamilton, indeed, describes* a very similar 
mode of divination which he saw in the oasis of 
Siwah, where it was called Darh el fid, or Derb el 
rami, according to whether beans or sand were used. 
He says : " Seven beans are held in the palm of the 
left hand, which is struck with a smart blow with 
the right half-closed fist, so that some of the beans 
jump into the right hand — if an odd nnmber, one is 
marked ; if even, two. The beans are replaced in 
the left liand, which is again struck with the right, 
and the resnlt marked below the first. This being 
repeated four times gives the first figure, and the 
operation is performed until there are obtained four 
figures, which are placed side by side in a square ; 
these are then read vertically and perpendicularly 
(sic), and also from corner to corner, thus giving in 
all ten figures. As each may contain four odd or four 
even numbers, they are capable of sixteen permuta- 
tions, each of which has a separate signification, and 
a proper house, or part of the square in which it 
should appear." 

The initiation fee paid to a priest for teaching the 
art of divination is, it is said, very heavy, and more- 
over does not cover the whole of the expense ; for 
the Oracle is, like Oracles generally, ambiguous and 
obscure, and the neophyte finds that he constantly 
has to refer to the priests for explanations of its 
meaning, and on each such occasion he is required 
to pay a consultation fee. When a man is initiated 
ihe priest usually informs him that he must hence- 

• " Wniidcriugs in Nonh Africa," pji. 2G1-G5. 

X 

THE TOnVDA-SPEAKIXG PEOPLES. 

forward abstain from some particular article of food, 
which varies with the individual. 

Ifa figures in connection with a legendary deluge,; 
the story of which, now adapted to the Yorub* 
theology, was probably derived from the Mohanu 
medans. Some time after settling at Ado, Ifa ba 
came tired of living in the world, and accordinglj 
went to dwell in the firmament, with Obatala, 
After his departure, mankind, deprived of hii 
assistance, was unable to properly interpret th« 
desires of the gods, most of whom became in cobs 
sequence annoyed. Olokun was the most angpyj 
and in a fit of rage he destroyed nearly all thfl 
inhabitants of the world in a great flood, only a 
few being saved by Obatala, who drew them up into^ 
the sky by means of a long iron chain. After this 
ebullition of anger, Olokun retired once more to his 
own domains, but the world was nothing but mud, 
and quite unfit to live in, till Ifa came down froni 
the sky, and, in conjunction with Odudua, onoe 
more made it habitable. 

(7) Elegba. 

Elegba, or Elegbara (Blegba-Bara), often called. 
Eshu, is the same phallic divinity who was described 
in the volume on the Ewe-spcaking Peoples. The 
Dame Elegba seems to mean, "He wlio seizes" 
(Bw-j)ia), and Bara is perhaps Oha-ra, *'Lord of thft 
niUnrtg" (Ra, to rub one thing against another), 
Caka appears to be from nhu, to emit, throw out, 
The propensity to make mischief, which 

CHIEF GODS, 65 

we noted as a minor characteristic of the Ewe 
Elegba, is much more prominent in the Yoruba god, 
who thus more neariy approaches a personification 
of evil. He is supposed always to carry a short 
knobbed club, which, originally intended to be a rude 
representation of the phallus^ has, partly through want 
of skill on the part of the modellers of the images, and 
partly through the growing belief in Elegba's malevo- 
lence, come to be regarded as a weapon of offence.* 
Because he bears this club he has the title of 
Agongo ogo. Ogo is the name of the knobbed club, 
and is most probably a euphemism for the phallus ; 
it is derived from gro, to hide in a bending or stooping 
posture. The derivation of agongo is less easy to 
determine, but it seems to be from gongoy tip, 
extremity. 

The image of Elegba, who is always represented 
naked, seated with his hands on his knees, and with 
an immensely disproportionate phallus, is found in 
front of almost every house, protected by a small 
hut roofed with palm-leaves. It is with reference 
to this that the proverb says : " As Eshw has a mali- 
cious disposition, his house is made for him in the 
street *' (instead of indoors). The rude wooden repre- 
sentation of the phallus is planted in the earth by the 
side of the hut, and is seen in almost every public 
place ; while at certain festivals it is paraded in great 
pomp, and pointed towards the young girls, who dance 
round it. 

Elegba, in consequence of the bargain he made with 

* In the case of Priapus we find a similar connection between tbe 
phallus and a cudgel. See Catullus, xx., " The Garden God." 

P 

66 THE YORUUA-SI'F.AKING PEOPLES. 

Ifa, receives a share of every sacrifice offered to the 
other gods. His own proper sacrifices are, as among 
the Ewe tribes, cocks, dog3 and he-goats, chosen on 
account of their amorous propensities ; but on very 
important occasions a human victim is oifered. In 
such a case, after the head has been struck off, the 
corpse is di8embowelled,and the entrails placed in front 
of the image in a large calabash or wooden dish ; after 
which the body is suspended from a tree, or, if no tre» 
be at hand, from a scaffolding of poles. Turkey- 
buzzards are sacred to Elegba and are considered his 
messengers, no doubt because they devour the entraUd, 
and bodies of the sacrifices. 

There is a noted temple to Elegba in a grove o^ 
palms near Wuru, a village situated about ten miles 
to the east of Badagry. The market of Wuru is undei 
his protection, and each vendor throws a few cowries 
on the ground as a thank-offering. Once a year these 
cowries are swept up by the priests, and with the sum 
thus collected a slave is purchased to be sacrificed to 
the god. A slave is also sacrificed annually, towards 
the end of July, to Elegba in the town of Ondo, the 
capital of the state of the same name. Elegba's 
principal residence is said to be on a mountain named 
Igbeti, supposed to be situated near the Niger. HerS' 
he has a vast ]>alace of brass, and a large number of 
attendants. 

Circumcision among the Yorubas, as among the 
Eve^ is connected with the worship of Elegba, and' 
spneBT? to be a sacrifice of a portion of the organ 
vbiiii) aikif c>»I inspires, to ensure the well-being of the 
TOta^m.. X<s circumcise is dako (da-oko) da, to ba 

CHIEF GOlta. 

acceptable aa a sacrifice, and oko, the foreskin. Cir- 
cumcision is ilreiiihi, or ikofa, the former of which 
means " the circular cutting " {ike, the act of cutting, 
and ii/eka, a circuit), and the latter, " the cutting that 
saves" {ike, the act of cutting, and o/tr, that wliich 
saves). Except among the Mohammedans there is no 
special time for performing the rite of circumcision, 
it being fixed for each individual by Ifa, after consul- 
tation, but usually it is done early in life. No woman 
would have connection with an nncircumcised man. 
A similar operation is performed on girls, who are 
excised, by women operators, shortly before puberty, 
that is, between the ages of ten and twelve years. 

As is the case in the western half of the Slave 
Coast, erotic dreams are attributed to Elegba, who, 
either as a female or male, consorts sexually with men 
and women durine their sleep, and so fulfils in his own 
person the functions of the inculd and eucruhi of 
mediEEval Kurope. 

^(8) Ofius. 
gun is the god of iron and of war, and, like Shango, 
18 also a patron of hunters. Iron is sacred to him, 
and when swearing by Ogun it is usual to touch an 
iron implement with the tongue. The name Ogun 
seems to mean " One who pierces " {gun, to pierce, or 
thrast with something pointed). He is specially 
worshipped by blacksmiths, and by those who make 
use of iron weapons or tools. Any piece of iron can 
be used as a symbol of Ogun, and the ground is sacred 
to him because iron ore is found in it. He is one of 
those who sprang from the body of Yemaja. 
F 2 

Till-: YORUBA-SPEAKING PEOPLES. 

The usual sacrifice offered to Ogun is a dog, together 
Tvitli fowls, palm oil, and minor articles of food. A 
proverb says, " An old dog must be sacrificed to 
Ogun," meaning that Ogun claims the best; and a 
dog's head, emblematic of this sacrifice, is always to 
be seen fastened up in some conspicuous part of the 
workshops of blacksmiths. On very important occa- 
sions, however, a human victim is offered, and, as in 
the case of a sacrifice to Elegba, the entrails are 
exposed before the image and the body suspended 
from a tree. The victim is slain by having his head 
struck off upon the stool of Ogun, over which the blood 
is made to gush. The reason of this is that the blood 
is believed to contain the vital principle, and therefore 
to be an offering particularly acceptable to the gods. 

This belief appears to be common to most bar- 
barous peoples ; the Israelites held it,* and blood 
was considered to be so peculiarly the portion of , 
their national god, that the blood of all animals slaii^j 
whether for sacrifice or food, had to be presented a 
an offering, no one being allowed to eat it undeP^ 
pain of death. t 

AVhen war has been decided upon, a slave is pun 
chased at the expense of the town, or tribe, 
offered as a sacrifice to Ogun, to ensure success. Thi 
day before that on which he is to be immolated, 
victim is led with great ceremony through the prirf 
cipal thoroughfares, and paraded in the marked 
where he is allowed to say or do anything he plei 
(short of escaping his impending fate), may gratify \. 

• Geiiesia ix. 4 ; Leviticus xvii. 11, 14, 

t LeviUcuB XTii. 8, 4 ; iii. 16, 17 ; rii. 2S.27. 

ClIIICF aOD.W 69 

desire with any woman who takes his fancy, and give 
his tongue every licence. The reason of his being 
thus honoured for the twenty-four hours Ijefore being 
sacrificed, is that it is believed he will be l^orn again 
and become a king ; and, after the head has been 
struck off, the corpse is treated with the greatest 
respect by all. In order for this sacrifice to be 
effective, it is necessary that the war leaders should 
take the field before the body begins to become 
offensive. The Ibadans, who appear to be rather 
averse to human sacrifice, always used to perform 
this duty by deputy, paying the priests of Ifc to sacri- 
fice for them a slave in that town. When the war 
of 1877 began they omitted to do this, thinking that 
the affair would not be serious; and, attributing their 
subsequent want of success to the omission, they after- 
wards sacrificed a slave to Ogun in their camp at 
Kiji in 1885, they having been prevented from doing 
it earlier by their leader, a Mohammedan, who died 
in that year. 

The priests of Ogun usually take out the hearts of 
human victims, which are dried, reduced to powder, 
then mixed with rum, and sold to persons who wish 
to be endowed with great courage, and who drink 
the mixture. The reason of this is that the heart is 
believed to be the seat of courage and to inherently 
possess that quahty ; and that when the heart is 
_devoured or swallowed tlie quality with which it is 
o taken into the system.

MINOR RODS. 

(1) Olokun. 

Olokttn {pni-ol-un, he who owns the sea), " Lord of the 
Sea," is the sea-god of the Yorubas. He is one oE 
those who came from the body of Yemaja. J 

As man worships that fi'om which he has most tin 
fear, or from which he liopes to receive the greateafl 
benefits, the inland tribes pay little or no attentiOT 
to Oloknn, who is, however, the chief god of fishei^ 
men and of all others whose avocations take them 
upon the sea. When Olokun is angry he causes the 
sea to be rough and stirs up a raging surf upon tha_ 
shore; and it is he who dro^-ns men, upsets boats <^ 
canoes, and causes shipwrecks. * 

Olokun is not the personally divine sea but an 
anthropomorphic conception. He is of human shape 
and black in colour, but with long ilowing hair, and 
resides in a vast palace under the sea, where he is 
served by a number of sea-spirits, some of whom are 
human in shape, while others partake more or less of 
the nature of fish. On ordinary occasions animals 
are sacrificed to Olokun, but when tlic condition of 
the surf prevents canoes from putting to sea U 

MINOR GODS. 

many days at a time, a human victim is offered to 
appease him. It is said that such sacrifices have 
been made in recent times, even at Lagos, by the 
people of the Isaleko quarter, who are chiefly wor- 
Bhippers of Olokim. Tiie sacrifice was of course 
secret, and according to native report the canoomen 
used to watch by night till they caught some solitary 
wayfarer, whom tliey gagged and conveyed across 
the lagoon to the sea-shore, where they struck off 
tiishead and threw the body into the surf. 

A myth says that Olokun, becoming enraged 
with mankind on account of their neglect of him, 
endeavoured to destroy them by overflowing the 
land ; and had drowned large numbers when Obatala 
interfered to save the remainder, and forced Olokun 
back to his palace, where he bound him with seven 
iron chains till he promised to abandon his design. 
This, perhaps, has reference to some former en- 
croachment of the eea upon the low-lying sandy 
diores, which are even now liable to be submerged 
at spring-tides,* 

Olokun has a wife named Olokun-su, or Elusu, who 
lives in the harbour bar at Lagos. She is white in 
colour and hiunan in shape, but is covered with 
fish-scales from below the breasts to the hips. The 
fish in the waters of the bar are sacred to her, and 
should anyone catch them, she takes vengeance by 
upsetting canoes and drowning the occupants, A 
man who should be so ill-advised as to attempt to 
fish on the bar would run a great risk of being 

" Another rojlii of iLis nature lias been mentioned in Clinptor 1[,, 
nnder Ha. 

U THE YORUBA-SPEAKING PKOPhES. 

thrown overboard by the other oanoemeu. Olokim- 
8u is an example of a local sea-goddess, originally, 
as on the Gold Coast at the present day, considered j 
quite independent, being attached to the general god 
of the sea, and accounted for as belonging to him. 

(2) Olora. 

Olosa (oni-osa, owner of the lagoon) is the goddess 
of the Lagos Lagoon, and the principal wife of her 
brother Olokun, the aea-god. Like her husband 
she is long-haired. She sprang from the body of 
Yemaja, 

Olosa supplies her votaries with fish, and there are 
several temples dedicated to her along the shores of 
the lagoon, where offerings of fowls and sheep are 
made to her to render her propitious. Whon the 
lagoon is swollen by rain and overflows its banks she 
is angry, and if the inundation be serious a hnmaa 
victim is offered to her, to induce her to return within 
her proper limits. 

Crocodiles are Olosa's messengers, and may not 
be molested. They are supposed to bear to the 
goddess the offerings which the faithful deposit on 
the shores of the lagoon or throw into the sedge. 
Some crocodiles, selected by the priests on account 
of certain marks borne by them, are treated with 
great veneration ; and have rude sheds, thatched 
with palm leaves, erected for their accommodation 
near the water's edge. Food is regularly supplied 
to these reptiles every fifth day, or festival, and 
many of them become sufficiently tame to come for 

.VIA'OI! GODS. 73 

tlie offering as soon as they see or hear the wor- 
shippers gathering on the bank. 

H[ (3) Shankpanna. 

Shankpanna, or Shakpana, who also came from the 
body of Yemaja, is the Small-pox god. The name 
appears to be derived from shan, to daub, smear, or 
plaster, which probably has reference to the pustules 
with which a small-pox patient ia covered, and al-- 
pania* a man-killer, homicide. He is accompanied 
by an assistant named Buku,t who kills those attacked 
by small-pox by wringing their necks. 

Sban-kpanna is old and lame, and is depicted as 
limping along with the aid o£ a stick. According to 
9. myth ho has a withered leg. One day, when the 
gods were all assembled at the palace of Obatala, and 
were dancing and making merry, Shankpanna endea- 
voured to join in the dance, but, owing to his defor- 
mity, stumbled and fell. All the gods and goddesses 
thereupon burst out laughing, and Shankpanna, in 
revenge, strove to infect them with small-pox, but 
Obatala came to the rescue, and, seizing his spear, 
drove Shankpanna away. From that day Shank- 
panna was forbidden to associate with the other goda, 
and he became an outcast who has since lived in deso- 
late and uninhabited tracts of country. 

Temples dedicated to Shankpanna arc always built 
in the bush, at some little distance from a town or 
village, with a view to keeping him away from habi- 

• Akpania, kpa, to kill, and enia, a person. 

t Perliaps bit, to rot, emit a stench, and liii, deatlj. 

71 TllK YORUBA-SPKAKlXa PEOPLED. 

tations. He is much dreaded, and when there is an 
epidemic of small-pox the priests who serve him are 
able to impose almost any terms they please upon the 
terrified people, as the price of their mediation. To 
whistle by night near one of Shankpanna's haunts is 
believed to be a certain way of attracting his notice 
and contracting the disease. As is the case with 
Sapatan, the small-pos god of the Ewe tribes, who 
have perhaps adopted the notion from the Yorubas, 
flies and mosquitos are the messengers of Shankpanna, 
and his emblem is a stick covered with red and white 
blotches, symbolic, it seems, of the marks he makes 
on the bodies of his victims. 

(4) Shigidi. 

Shigidi, or Shugudu, is deified nightmare. The 
name appears to mean " something short and bulky," 
and the god, or demon, is represented by a broad and 
short head, made- of clay, or, more commonly, by 
a thick, blunted cone of clay, which is ornamented 
with cowries, and is no doubt emblematic of the 
head. 

Shigidi is an evil god, and enables man to gratify 
his hate in secret and without risk to himself. When 
a man wishes to revenge himself upon another he 
offers a sacrifice to Shigidi, who thereupon proceeds 
at night to the house of the person indicated and 
kills him. His mode of procedure is to squat upon 
the breast of his victim and " press out his breath 
but it often happens that the tutelary deity of the 
sufferer comes to the rescue and wakes him, upon 

"which Shigidi leaps off, falls upon the earthen floor, 
and disappears, for he only has power over man dur- . 
ing sleep. This superstition still lingers among the * 
negroes of the Bahamas of Yorubg. descent, who talk 
of being " hagged," and believe that nightmare is 
caused by a demon that crouches upon the breast of 
the sleeper. The word nightmare is itself a survival 
from a similar belief once held by ourselves, mare 
being the Anglo-Saxon vitere, elf or goblin. 

The person who employs Shigidi, and sends bim 
out to kill, must remain awake till the god returns, 
for if ho were to fall asleep Shigidi would at that 
moment turn back, and the mission would fail. 
Shigidi either travels on the wind, or raises a wind 
to waft him along ; on this point opinions differ. The 
first symptom of being attacked by Shigidi, is a feeling 
of heat and oppression at the pit of the stomach, "like 
hot, boiled rice," said a native. If a man experiences 
this when he is falhng asleep, it behoves him to get up 
at once and seek the protection of the god he usually 
serves. 

Houses and enclosed yards can be placed nnder the 

guardianship of Shigidi. In order to do this a hole is 

^uug in the earth, and a fowl, sheep, or, in exceptional 

^P^ases, a human victim is slaughtered, so that the 

^ blood drains into the hole, and is then buried. A short, 

conical moimd of red earth is next built over the spot, 

and an earthen saucer placed on the summit to 

«ceive occasional sacrifices. "When a site has thus 

jbeen placed under the protection of Shigidi, he kills, 

1 hia typical manner, thoee who injure the buildings, 

p -who trespass there with bad intentions. 

70 nil-: YOUUBA-SI'KAKIXG rEOPLE.'i. 

(5) Olakosa, 

Olarosa (? Alarmsc, helper) is the tutelary deity of 
Houses. He is represented as armed with a stick or 
swordj and his image is found in almost every house- 
hold guarding the entrance. His office is to drive 
away sorcerers and evil spirits, and to keep Elegba 
from entering the house, 

(6) Dada. 

Dada, more properly Eda, or Ida, is the god of 
New-bom Babes and Vegetables. The name appears 
to mean natural production, anything produced or 
brought forth by natural process. Dada is repre- 
sented by a calabash ornamented with coivTies, on 
which is placed a ball of indigo. He is one of those 
who came from the body of Yemaja. 

(7) Ota. 
Oya is the goddess of the Niger, which is called 

Odv Oija, the river of Oya. She is the chief wife of 
the thunder-god, Shango, and, as has already been 
said, her messenger is Afefe, the Wind. At Lokoro, 
near Porto Novo, there is said to be a temple of Oya 
containing an image of the goddess with eight heads 
Burroimding a central head. This is supposed to be 
symbolical of the numerous outfalls of the Niger 
through its delta. Oya and the two following sprang 
from Yemaja. 

(8) OSHUX. 

Oshun, goddess of the river of the same name. 

M/yOJl GODS. 77 

which is the sacred river of Jebii Ode, is the second 
wife of Shango. Crocodiles which bear certain inarka 
are sacred to her, and are considered her messengers. 
Human sacrifices are made to Oshun in time of need. 

»(9) Oui. 
Oba, the third wife of Shango, is the goddess of the 
River Ibn, or Oba. 

^(10) Ajf. Shaluga. 
Aje Shaluga is the god of "Wealth, and confers 
ches on his worshippers. The name appears to 
mean either "the gainer who makes to recur," or 
" the sorcerer who makes to recur." (4/e. sorcerer ; 
aje, earner, or gainer, and shabi, to recur.) His 
emblem is a large cowry. One proverb says, " Aje 
Shaluga often passes by the first caravan as it comes 
to the market, and loads the last with benefits ; " and 
another, " He who while walking finds a cowry is 
favoured by Aje Shaluga." The large cowry, emble- 
matic of Aje Shaluga, has no value as a medium of 
exchange, the small white cowries being alone used 
for that purpose. He is the patron of dyes and of 
colours generally. He came from the body of 
Hye maja. 

(11) OjilSHA OkO. 

Orisha Oko (o/.o, farm, garden, plantation) is the 
, of Agriculture, and is one of those who sprang 
om the body of Yemaja. As the natives chieliy 
oepend upon the fruits of the earth for their food, 

THK YOnUBA-SPEAKING PEOPLES. 

Orisha Oko is much honoured. There is scarcely a 
town or village that has not a temple dedicated to 
him, and he has a large number of priests and priest- 
esses in his service. 

Although his first care is to promote the fertility 
of the earth, he is also the god of natural fertility 
in general, for he is a phallic divinity, and his image 
is always provided with an enormous phallus. He 
thus resembles Priapus, who, although a phallic deity, 
was, apparently, primarily a garden-god, who fostered 
and protected crops. (Catullus, six. xx.; TibuUus, I. i.) 

An emblem of Orisha Oko is an iron rod, and honey 
bees are his messengers. It is probably with refer- 
ence to his phallic attributes that he has the title of 
Eni-diiTU — " the erect personage." One of his func- 
tions is to cure malarial fevers, to which those who 
disturb the soil in the process of cultivation are par- 
ticularly liable. 

There is an annual festival to Orisha Oko, held 
when the yam crop is ripe, and all then partake of 
new yams. At this festival general licence prevails, 
the priestesses give themselves indiscriminately to all 
the male worshippers of the god, and, theoretically, 
every man has a right to sexual intercourse with 
every woman he may meet abroad. Social prejudices 
have, however, restricted the application of this pri- 
vilege, and it is now only slave-girls, or women of the 
lowest order, who are really at the disposal of the 
public, and then only if they are consenting parties. 
At this festival all kinds of vegetable productions are 
cooked and placed in vessels in the streets, for general 
use. 

MlSOn GODS. 70 

(12) OSANHIN. 

Osanliin {san, to benefit) is the god of Medicine, 
and, as he is always applied to in cases of sickness, 
his worship is very general. His emblem is the figure 
of a bird perched upon an iron bar. 

(13) AiiONi. 

Aroni is the Forest-god, and, like the last, has a 
knowledge of medicine, though the cure of disease is 
not his special function. The name means " One 
having a withered limb," and Aroni is always repre- 
sented as of human shape but with only one leg, the 
head of a dog, and a dog's tail. 

Aroni seizes and devours those who meet him in 
the forest and attempt to run away when they see 
hira; but if a man faces him boldly and shows no sign 
of fear, he leads him to bis dwelling in the fastnesses 
of the forest, and keeps him there for two or three 
months, during whicli time he teaches hira the secrets 
of the plants and their medicinal properties. When 
the pupil has no more to learn Aroni dismisses him, 
giving him a hair from his tail to prove to the incre- 
dulous that he has really been initiated. 

tAn eddy of wind, rushing through the, forest and 
irling up the dead leaves, is considered a mani- 
!ta 

wtation of Ai'oni. 

(14) Aja. 

Aja, whose name appears to mean a wild vine, is a 
deity somewhat-Biipilar to Aroni. Like Aroni, she 

80 THE YOnUUA-SPEAKlNG PEOPLES. 

carries off persons who meet her into the depths of 
the forest, and teaches them the medicinal properties 
of plants; but she never harms aDyone. Aja is of 
human shape, but very diminutive, she being only 
from one to two feet high. The aja vine is used by 
women to cure enflamed breasts. 

(1-5) OvE. 

Oye, the god of the Harmattan wind, is a giant 
who, according to some, lives in a cavern to the north 
of Ilorin, while others say that he resides on the 
mountain named Igbeti, where Elegba is supposed to 
have his palace. 

(16) Ibeji. 

Ibeji, Twins {ht, to beget, cji, two) is the tutelary 
deity of twins, and answers to the god Hoho of the 
Ewe-tribes. A small black monkey, generally found 
amongst mangrove trees, is sacred to Ibeji. Offerings 
of fruit are made to it, and its flesh may not be eaten 
by twins or the parents of twins. This monkey is 
called Edtin dndn, or i'dvii oriolcun, and one of twin 
children is generally named after it Edun, or Eduv. 

When one of twins dies, the mother carries with the 
surviving child, to keep it from pining for its lost 
comrade, and also to give the spirit of the deceased 
child something to enter without disturbing the living 
child, a small wooden figure, seven or eight inches 
long, roughly fashioned in human shape, and of the 
ses of the dead child. Such figures are nude, as an 
infant would be, with beads round the waist. 

MINOR GODS. (*! 

At Erapo, a village on the Lagoon between Lagos 
and Badagry, there is a celebrated temple to Ibeji, to 
which all twins, and the parents of twins, from a long 
distance round make pilgrimages. 

It is said to be nsual in Ondo to destroy one of 
twins. This is contrary to the practice of the Toni- 
bas, and, if true, the custom has probably been bor- 
rowed from the Benin tribes to the east. 

(17) OSHUMARE. 

Oshmnare is the Rainbow-god, the Great Snake of 
the Underneath, who comes up at times above the 
edge of the earth to drink water from the sky. The 
name is compounded of s/fw, to gather in dark clouds, 
to become gloomy, and the word marc, or maye, which 
occurs in one of the epithets of Olorun, and the mean- 
ing of which is uncertain. This god is also common 
to the E\Ve-tribes, under the name of Anyiewo, and 
has been described in " The Ewe-Speaking People of 
the Slave Coast of West Africa." A variety of the 
python, called by the Yorubas ere, is the messenger 
of the rainbow-god, and is sacred to him. 

»(18) Oke. 
Oke, mountain, or hill, is the god of Mountains, and 
IS worshipped by those who live in mountainous or 
rocky country. If neglected, he is apt to roll down 
huge masses of rock upon the habitations of those who 
have been forgetful of his wants, or to sweep them 
away by a landslip. When any great mishap of this 
^^ature occurs, a human victim is offered up to turn 
^Brfty his anger. The falling of boulders or detached 

pieces or rock i:? il^v^T^ Mn^.der^i "ihu lamtilvijck 

emblem of Oke :s :i icioc :r ±njjTienn of rack. ] 
is one of tliose whc ^cramr tzr.nL Y-imnfa. 

At Abeoknri clier^ i:? i rrck^ n"3Tar!i zl wiiidi C 
is woi^liipped. Iz is pccolarij telievati by cae od 
tribes thtifct the E^rbas. ^en iefeazai in war. can pel 
into this c;iveni* which then. herm.edcaily seals ic 
lill the dMiger is pust. 

Oshosi* who is also one of those who came £i 
Yomaja, is the patroa ot H-jJirers. He resides in 
fort^st, and drives the game into the snares and ] 
falls of his fiuthful followers, whom he also prot< 
from beasts of prey. He is represented as a i 
arnieil with a l>oWj or freqaentlj- by a bow ale 
Offerings are made to him of the fruits of the clu 
chiefly of anteloj>es. 

(20) AND (21) The Srx .vnd mE Mot^x. 

According to the myth, the sun, moon, and st 
came from the body of Yemaja. Orun, the Sun, i 
Oshu, the Moon, are gods, but the stars do not S€ 
to have been deified. The worship of the sun i 
moon is, moreover, now very nearly obsolete, i 
sacrifices are no longer offered to them, though 
appearance of the new moon is commonly celebra 
by a festival. 

The stars are the daughters of the sun and mo 
The boys, or young suns, on growing up tried 

\ 

itIXOR GODS. 

Mlow tlieir father in his coui-se across the sky to 
*here the sea and the sky meet, and which, say the 
^~~ Tonibas, is the place where the white men go and find 
all the things with which they fill their ships ; but he, 
;=.iealous of his power, turned npon them and tried to 
-kill them. Some of them sought refuge with Olosa, 
-some with Olokun, and the remainder with their 
.grandmother, Yemaja, who turned them iuto fish. 
Thus all the sons were driven out of the sky, but the 
daughters remained with their mother and still accom- 
pany her by night. This myth is virtually the same 
as that current among the eastern Ewe-tribes, who 
^ have almost certainly learnt it from their Yoruba 
" neighbonrs. 

To see the new moon is lucky, and, just as in Eng- 

^ land, people wish when they first see it. As amongst 

the Ewe-tribes, an echpse of the Moon is supposed to 

indicate that the Sun is beating her, and steps are 

~ taken to drive him away, similar to those described in 

'• The Ewe-Speaking People." 

The Yorubas pay some attention to the heavenly 
bodies. The planet Venus, when near the Moon, is 
^ called Aja-Oshu, the Moon's Dog, because she travels 
J with it. When a morning star she is called Ofere, or 
B Ofe, which seems to mean a pale blue colour. When 
g an evening star she is called Irawo-ale, Star of the 
< Evening. Sirius is called Irawo-oko, Canoe Star, 
, because it is believed to be a guide to canoemen. A 
,; proverbial saying likens the stars to chickens fol- 
lowing a hen, the Moon ; and the Milky AVay is called 
" the group of chickens." 

Till-: yoi!UBA:-<PE.\KlSO PEOPLES. 

(23) Oluki-mkhin. 

Olori-ineriii, possessor of four heads, is anotlier pod 
whose worship is nearly, if not quite, obsolete. He 
was the tutelary deity of towns, and was represented 
by a hillock, or, if no hillock existed within the pre- 
cincts of the town, by an artificial mound. 

Sacrifice was made to Olori-merin every three 
months, or four times a year, and always consisted of 
a new-born child not more than three or four days' 
old. The child's throat was cut by a priest, and the 
blood, caught in a calabash or earthen vessel, wna 
placed on the summit of the mound, after which 
flesh was sliced up into small pieces and buried 
the mound. During this dreadful scene the raotl 
had to be present. This sacrifice was called Ejodim 
(Eje-odun), " The season of blood." 

Olori-merin had, as his name betokens, four heads, 
with which he watched the four points of the compass 
from the top of his mound, and it was believed that 
no war or pestilence could attack a town under his 
protection. He had the legs and feet of a goat. 
Sometimes, at night, he appeared in the shape of a 
venomous serpent.

Ix the myths o£ the origin of the various gods 
described in the last two chapters we probably see 
the result of the iiidwelling-spirit theory having been 
lost sight of. As long as a god was accepted to be 
the animating principle or spiritual entity of some 
natural object or feature, his origin required no ex- 
planation, for his existence was bound up with the 
feature or object, and, if the question was thought of 
at all, he must have been, in the native mind, coeval 
with the origin of the world- When, however, as has 
been the case with most of the deities worshipped by 
the Yoruba tribes as a whole, the gods ceased to be 
identified with local objects or natural phenomena, 
some other explanation of their origin became neces- 
sary; for man, however low he may be in the scale of 
civilisation, is always desirous of knowing the reasons 
for everything, and the West African negro in par- 
ticular is of a very inquisitive turn of mind. Then, 
in order to satisfy the natural desire to know who the 
gods were and whence they came, the myths we have 
already recounted grew up, and the numerous discre- 
pancies iu them appear to show that the process was 
comparatively recent. It looks as if the stories had 

TJII-: YOHVJiA-SPEAKiyG PEOPLES. 

not yet had sufficient time to become jjenerally known 
in a commonly accepted version. 

Tlie deities Obatala and OtUidna represent, say 
the priests. Heaven and Earth. Oloi-un is the real 
Heaven-god, or Sky-god, answering to the Ewe 
Mawu, bnt he is now almost pushed out of sight, and 
Obatala, a more active agent, acts for him. The dif- 
ference between Olornn and Obatala appears to be 
that the former is the personal divine firmament, and 
the latter an anthropomorphic sky-god, a later con- 
ception ; and we perhaps here see a repetition of the 
process by which in the religion of ancient Greece 
Kronos supplanted Uranus. Obatala, or Heaven, 
marries Odudua, or Earth,* and has two chihlren, 
named Aganjn and Yemaja, who, according to the 
priests, represent Land and "Water. These two inter* 
marry and have a son, Orungan, "Air," the region 
between the solid firmament and the earth. Orungan 
ravishes his mother Yemaja, who, while endeavouring 
to escape fi'om further outrage, falls and bursts openi^ 
whereupon a number of gods emerge from her gaping 
body. 

The gods whose origin is thus accounted for as thft' 
offspring of Yemaja, are of various types. The Sea*.: 
god (Olokun), the Thunder-god (Shango), the Sun, 
the Moon, the Lagoon (Olosa), the three river-go( 
desses Oya, Oshun, and Oba, the god of Mountaii 
(Oke), and Ogun, god of iron and war and of the Rivi 
Ogun, are all the product of Nature-worship, but ara 
not of one type, for the Sun and Moon belong to the 

" Rhea, bride ot Kronos, to souio exlPiit rc[)re8cnted the enrlh in 
Grccinn mythology. 

lUn, 

linfl 

ive^ 

JtE.)fAllKS OX TIIF. rOllF.GOlSCl. 

old order of things, to the same religious system as 
Olorim, and are personally divine, while the others 
belong to the new order, and are anthropomorphic. 
Shankpanna, god of small-pox, is personified pesti- 
lence, and belongs to another type ; while Dada, 
Oshosi, Aje Shalnga, and Orisha Oko, as the respec- 
tive patrons of vegetable productions, hunters, wealth, 
and agriculture, may be regarded as the tutelary 
deities of industries, and as belonging to a third class 
of religious conceptions. The myth thus assigns a 
common origin alike to the ancient gods and to those 
which are more modern. 

There are, however, other gods who do not belong 
to this family circle ; that is, they are not descendants 
of Obatala and Odudua, so the mythological scheme 
is incomplete, no attempt being made to account for 
their origin. The.'^e gods are the God of Divination 
(Ifa), the Forest-god (Aroni), the Phallic-god (Elegba), 
the Harmattan Wind (Oye), the Rainbow (Oslmmare), 
the tutelary deity of households (Olarosa), the god of 
Medicine (Osanhin), and Shigidi. These also are of 
various types. The Harmattan Wind and the Rain- 
bow are Nature-gods of the old order, and Aroni, god 
of forests, of the new. Olarosa and Osanhin are 
tutelary deities, and Shigidi is personified nightmare. 
Ifa was probably originally the God of fecundation, 
though now his chief function is to foretell the future. 
Elegba, primarily a phallic divinity, seems to be 
gradually becoming a personification of evil, and here 
we perhaps see a tendency towards Dualism, which 
in the future might, if undisturbed, result in Elegba 
becoming the Evil Deity, and Obatala or Ifa the Good. 

8.S THE TORiriiA'SPKAKlXG PEOPLES. 

The incompleteness of the scheme seems, as has been 
said, to show that the myth of Temaja is comparativelT 
recent, and this is supported by the fact that the 
myth itself is not universally accepted in its entirety, 
Shango, for example, is said by some to be of inde- 
pendent origin, like Ifa ; and Odndiia, the mother of 
Yemaja, according to the myth, is by others included 
in the nnraber of those who sprang from Yemaja's 
body. No general consensus of opinion has yet been 
arrived at, but the myth of Yemaja is the only one 
that holds the field, and no doubt in course of time 
the gods whose origin is as yet unosplained would 
also be held to have come from the daughter of 
Obatala and Odudua. 

We find the same want of accord in the myths of tiie 
origin of man. According to some, Obatala made tlie 
first man and woman out of clay or mud, whence he 
has obtained his titles of Alamorere and Orisha 
Kpokpo ; while, according to others, the first pair 
came, with the gods, from the body of Yemaja. Al- 
though the first story somewhat resembles the account 
of the origin of man given in the Book of Genesis, 
there is no reason for supposing it to be borrowed. 
When uncivilised man, after speculating about the 
origin of mankind, has come to the conclusion that 
there must have been a first pair, and has accounted 
for that first pair by the theory that they were made 
by a superior being out of something ; the material 
which he would be most likely to select for their 
manufacture is clay or mud, because it is with these 
that he makes his own first rude attempts to model 
the human form. To make a rude imitation of the 

IiK.\fM:KS nx THE FOUKIIOISH. M' 

fig^are of a man in clay requires far less skill and far 
less labour than to carve one out of a block of wood, 
whence it is that most of the images of the gods are 
made of clay. Clay figures bein^ primordial, and 
images being ordinarily made of clay even when the 
arts have somewhat advanced, this would be the sub- 
stance which the myth-makers would introduce into 
their myths describing the origin of the first pair, a 
connection of ideas between clay and the human form 
already existing,* 

The second story, which cannot be any older than 
the myth of Yemaja, of which it is a part, is sufficiently 
precise to give the name of the first couple, that 
of the man being Obalofun (Lord of Speech), and 
that of the woman lya (Mother). After coming out 
of the goddess at Ife, they settled there, and had a 
numerous progeny, which increased and multiplied 
till the whole earth was populated, hence it is that 
Ife is considered the cradle of the human race. Of 
course Obalofun and Tya were Yorubas, for it is a 
peculiarity of every imcivilised people to believe that 
the first man and woman were of their race. 

Another tradition, though it makes Ife the place 
of origin of the Yoruba tribes, represents it as being 
colonised by persons migrating from the interior. 
This tradition is perhaps a dim recollection of a his- 
torical fact, historical, that is, in so far that the 
Yoruba tribes probably did in the remote past come 

" According to one Greek mytli, Pandora, the first woman, was 
made bj Hephicstua oat oi enrtb, and, uccordiug to anotlier, Fro- 
made man oat uf earth and water. Sec also Lu<'iaii, 
lognes of the Qods," i. 

'J[l THE r011UIi.\--<PEAKING PEOPLES. 

down from tlio interior, and occupy the territory in: 
whicli they wei-e found at the commencement of tha 
present century; for the cognate Tshi tribes of tho 
Gold Coast also have a tradition of a migration from 
tlie interior. Most probably the two traditions refer 
to a great southward movement of the original stock 
from which the Tshi, Gti, Ewe, and Yomba tribes are 
descended, and which, starting from some central 
point in the interior, spread out in fan-shape till it. 
reached the sea-coast. The tradition of the Yoruba 
migration is as follows. 

Long ago a certain person living in the far interior 
sent fifteen people from his country to go to the 
south, and with them came, of his own free will, one 
named Okambi,* who afterwards became the first 
King of Yoruba. When they were leaving, the per- 
son who sent them gave Okambi a slave, a trumpeter 
named Okinkin,t a fowl, and something tied up in a 
jiiece of black cloth. They journeyed for some time, 
and when they opened the gate of the south and 
passed into the unknown country, they found nothing 
but water spread out before them. At first they 
thought of returning, but fearing the anger of tha 
person who had sent them, they entered the water; 
and, finding it quite shallow, waded on through it. 
This they did for some time until Okinkin the trum- 
peter sounded his trumpet, in accordance with the 
instructions the person had given, and thereby re- 
minded Okambi of the something tied up in blacl 
cloth, which was to be opened when the trmnpet 

• Tliis nnme means " nti only child." Okna, one, nnd 4r, lo 1*bi 
f Okinkiu appears to menu " owner of a very smnll portion," 

liEMMlKS OX rilE FOIlEC.niKa. 91 

inded. The cloth was accordingly untied, and a 
Im-nut, with some earth fell into the water from 
The nnt immediately began to grow, and shot 
BO rapidly that in a few minutes it had become a 
II palm with sixteen branches.* All the party, being 
Tery tired from their long wading, climbed up into 
the tree and rested on the branches till next morning, 
in which position a certain person named Okiki + saw 
them from the country from which they had been 
sent out. When he saw them, Okiki reminded 
Okinkin the trumpeter that it was his duty to sound 
the trumpet again, whereupon he sounded it, and 
Okambi untied the piece of black cloth a second time. 
"When it was opened, earth fell from it, and, drying 
up the water, made a small mound. The fowl that 
the personage had given Okambi then flew on to the 
mound and scratched the earth here and there, and 
wherever the earth fell it dried up the water. When 
there was a good space covered with earth, Okambi 
came down from the tree, bringing with him his 
trumpeter Okinkin and his slave Tctu.J The other per- 
is wished to come down also, but Okambi would not 

' Tliis number often recurs in Yoi-ulia myths. Tliere werosixteen 
palm-nnts on the tiTo palms in the gnrdcn of Orungnn, tlio chief mnn, 
wisicli Ifo cbtnin«i for the pnrpose of divination, and sixteen palm 
trees grew np from the palm-nnt that Ifa planted on the rock at Ado. 
Ijixtuen persons, viz. fifteen and Okambi, commence the jonrney to 
the soath. 

t ITiis name is Bometimes given aa Okiki-ehi. Okiki means 
romour, or report, and Okiki-phi, "borrowed from report." Then' is 
an Tin intelligible Ga proverb, " Nobody knows who has born Oknikoi," 

^Kvhicli perhaps refers to the same pevsunage, 

^^B Tetii means " execationcr." 

THE YOllUliA-SPKAKIXG PEOPLES. 

allow tliem to do so until they liad promised to pay 
liim, at stipulated periods of time, a tribute of 200 
cowries apiece. The place whei-e the palm spruug up 
from the water afterwards became Ife, and, some 
time after, three brothers set out from there in 
different directions, to make fresh discoveries. When 
they went away they left a slave, named Adimii,* to 
rule Ife during their absence. 

Thia tradition is vague and meagre of detail, the 
only points brought out being that a certain number 
of persons migrated southward from the interior, and 
found a region covered with water. This latter de-- 
tail, however, strongly supports the theory that a real 
migration took place; for the large stretches of shallow 
water of the lagoon system, which during the rainy 
season are enormously extended by the iuundation of' 
the low-lying portions of the surrounding country, 
could scarcely have failed to excite the wonder of % 
people accustomed to the plateaus and mountain 
ranges of the interior, and to leave a lasting impres- 
sion upon their memories. 

■ Adimn, a, tight gmsp, lioU-tnst,

PRIESTS AND WOESHlf. 

The Yoruba priesthood ia divided into recognised 
orders, but before describing tbem it will be neces- 
sary to give some account of a secret society which is 
inseparably connected with the priesthood, and which, 
except in Jebu, where it is called Oshogbo, is known 
as the Ogboni Society. 

The Ogboni Society really holds the reins of govern- 
ment, and kings themselves are obliged to submit to 
its decrees. The members are popularly believed to 
possess a secret from which they derive their power, 
but their only secret appears to be that of a powerful 
and unscrupulous organisation, each member of which 
is bound to assist every other, while all are bound to 
carry out, and if necessary enforce, the decrees of the 
body. Each town and village has its Ogboni " lodge," 
and the members recognise each other by conventional 
signs and passwords. At their meetings, which are 
held with a great affectation of mystery, they delibe- 
rate upon all matters which interest the tribe or com- 
munity. The decisions of the Ogboni are final, and 
nothing of importance can be done without their 
— sent "When the missionaries wished to establish 
mselves at Abeokuta, the king could not grant the 

4 m 

'J4 THt: roiK/BA-SPEAK/XG PICOPLEfi. 

necessary permission til] the Ogbonis had considered 
the matter and signified their consent. The power of 
the Ogbonis, however, varies in difierent states, and 
in Ibadan they seem to be little more than public 
executioners. 

Of course, since the organisation is secret, little can 
really be known about it. Death is said to be thft 
penalty for betraying the secrets of the order. Ac- 
cording to native report, a member who has been 
convicted of such an offence is placed in a narrow cell, 
with his legs protruding through two holes in thet 
wall into an adjoining cell, where they are fastened to 
two stakes driven into the earthen floor. The execu- 
tioner sits in this adjoining cell, and the offender is 
tortured to death by having the flesh scraped from his 
legs with sharp-edged shells. Whether this is trutf 
or not it is impossible to say. 

According to some natives the Ogboni Society has 
for its chief object the preservation of establishedi, 
religious customs, while according to others it ia 
principally occupied with the civil power. It really 
appears to concern itself mth every matter of public 
interest, and seems to resemble in all important par- 
ticulars a very similar society, called Porro, which i 
found among the Timnis of Sierra Leone. What ii 
quite certain is that the protecting deity of th( 
Ogboni is the goddess Odudua, who is generally 
spoken of by members by her title lie (Earth). 
It seems probable that the society was originally 
intended for the initiation to manhood of youths 
who had arrived at puberty, like the Boguera of 
the Bechuanas, the Niamwali of the Manganja, and 

tbe ceremony of the Mpongwe, described by Mr. 
Winwood Reade,* and that its civil and judicial 
functions are later usurpations. If this were so, it 
would to some extent be connected with phallic 
worship, and phallic emblems are very commonly 
seen carved on the doors of Ogboni lodges. The 
name Ogboni is probably derived from Ogba, " Com- 
panion." 

The Alafin of Yoruba is the chief of all the Ogboni, 
and he thus is able to exert influence beyond the 
limits of his own kingdom. In most states the chief 
of the Ogboni- is the head of the priesthood, and is 
styled Ekeji Orisha, " Next to the Gods." He con- 
vokes councils of priests on extraordinary occasions, 
and decides disputed points. In Jebu every man of 
rank is an Oshogbo, but in Ibadan, as has been said, 
the Ogboni seem chiefly to exercise the functions of 
executioners. Criminals are delivered to them for 
execution and ai'c put to death secretly in the 
Ogboni lodge. The heads are afterwards fixed to a 
tree in the market-place, but the bodies are never 
seen again, and the relatives are thus unable to give 
them the rites of sepulture, which is considered a 
great disgrace. 

The Yoruba priesthood {Olorlsha, priest) is divided 
into threo orders, each of which is further siibdivided 
into ranks or classes. 

The first order comprises three ranks, viz. (1) the 

Babalawo, or priests of Ifa ; (2) priests who practise 

medicine, and who serve Osanhin and Aroni, gods of 

medicine; (3) priests of Obatala and Odudua. "White 

• " Savage Africa," p. 2-16, 

96 THE YORVBA-SPEAKlXa PEOPLES. 

is the distinguishing colour of this order, and all 
priests belonging to it invariably wear white clothsi. 
The Babalawo wear armlets raade of palm-fibre, andl 
carry a cow-tail {irnke), while priests of Obatala ara 
distingiiisbed by necklaces of white beads. There 
are two high priests of this order, one of whom 
resides at Ife and the other at Ika, some distance to 
the north. 

The second order comprises (1) the Oni-Shango, 
or priests of Shango ; and (2) priests of all other 
gods not before mentioned, except Orisba Oko. Red 
and white are the distinguishing colours of this order, 
and all members of it shave the crown of the head. 
Priests of Shango wear necklaces of black, red, and 
white beads ; those of Ogun an iron bracelet on the 
left arm ; and those of Oshun, one of Shango's wiveSi 
brass armlets and anklets. 

The third order consists of (1) priests of Orisha 
Oko, god of Agricultiu-e, and (2) priests of demi-goda, 
or deified men, such as Huisi, who defended Oyftj 
against Shango. Priests of this order are dis- 
tinguished by a small white mark painted on thfl; 
forehead. 

The reason of the Babalawo taking the highest 
place in the priesthood is that it is through his agency, 
as the priest of Ifa, the god of divination, that man learns 
what is necessary to be done to please the other gods. 
The priests of Ifa thus, to a certain extent, control 
and direct the worship of the other gods, and in 
time of calamity, war, or pestilence it is their business 
to declare what ought to be done to make the gods 
propitious. 

PJUJiSTS AX1> WilllSlIlP. 97 

The Magba, or chief priest of Sbango, has twelve 
assistants, who are termed, in order of authority, 
right-hand (Olon), left-hand {Onia), third, fourth, 
fifth, and so on. They reside near Kuso, the spot 
8t which Shango is said to have descended into the 
earth. 

The priests, besides acting as intermediaries between 
the gods and men, preside at all trials by ordeal, and 
prepare and sell charms, amulets, Ac. The priests 
of Ifa are diviners proper, but other pnests also 
practise divination, though not with palm-nuts and 
the board peculiar to Ifa. The methods are various; 
one, called keke, is a casting of lots by means of small 
sticks or stalks of grass, each of which represents 
a particular individual ; another, called goijo, is a 
drawing of lots. A certain number of grass stalks, 
one of which is bent, are held in the hand or wrapped 
in a piece of cloth, so that the ends only show; and 
each person in turn draws one, the bent stalk in- 
dicating the one who is in fault. The person of 
'priest is sacred , and violence offered to one ia 

irely punished. 
The office of priest is hereditary in the families of 
priests, but members are recruited in otlier modes. 
Seminaries for youths and girls, like those of the 
hsio of the EVve tribes, are a regular in.stitution, and 
m them applicants for the priestly office undergo a 
novitiate of two or tbree years, at the end of which 
they are consecrated and take a new name. The 
ceremony of consecration is very similar to th&t 
described in the last volume.* 

• " E*e-Siienlting Peoples," p. 143. 

The ordinary service of tlie temples is performi 
by tte dependents of the priesthood, the affiliatt 
youths, and the " wives " of the goda, who keep ths. 
vessels filled with water, and every fifth day sweep 
out the temples. In the vicinity the affiliated young 
people practise the religious dances and. songs, ami 
for hours together may be heard repeating chnntg- 
of only two or three notes, till they work themselvea 
up into a state of frenzy, and break out into loud 
shrieks and cries. , 

Temples are ordinarily circular huts bnilt of clay, 
with conical roofs thatched with grass ; the interioi 
is usually painted with the colour sacred to the god, an< 
the doors and shutters, and the posts which support tha 
overhanging eaves, are carved. The temples of the 
chief gods are usually situated in groves of fine treosj 
amongst which one or two large silk-cotton treea 
(Bombaces), which seem to be regarded with veneratioa 
throughout all "West Africa, tower above the rest, 
From the summits of the trees, or from tall bamboosj 
long streamers flutter in the wind and testify to th( 
sanctity of the locality. Sometimes there is a grov( 
only, without any temple, but more frequently thS 
grove or avenue adjoins a shrine. These groves are 
regarded with superstitious reverence, and havff^ 
proper names ; a grove sacred to Ifa and his com- 
panion Odu is, for instance, called an Igbodu. New 
the western entrance of the town of Ode Ondo is 
celebrated grove or sacred avenue, to one side of 
vrhich, in the adjoining bush, the sacrifice of human 
victims and the execution of criminals takes place. 
Persons approaching each other in opposite directions 

PHlllSrS AND WoRSniF. 99 

are not allowed to pass each other in this avenue, one 
of them being required to turn back and wait tUl the 
path is clear. 

The temples of tutelary deities of towns are usually 
to be found in the central square of the town, or near 
the principal gate, and those of the tutelary deities 
of families or households near the house-door or in 
the yard. In shape and construction they resemble 
the temples of the chief gods, but those of the pro- 
tecting deities of households are mere miniatures, and 
are sometimes only small sheds, open at the ends and 
sides. Besides these structures, which are seen in 
every street, one often finds larger huts, circular in 
shape, thatched with grass, and large enoxigh to con- 
tain a seated man. These, which might be mistaken 
for temples but for the fact that they contain no 
images, are built for the accommodation of pious per- 
sons who wish to meditate and pray. A temple is 
called He Orisha, " House of the Orisha." 

The Yoruba gods are almost invariably represented 
by images in human form, which appear grotesque, 
but are not meant to be so, the grotesqueness being 
merely the result of want of skill. These images are 
regarded as emblems of absent gods. They them- 
selves are not worshipped, and there is no idolatry in 
the proper sense of tlie word, though no doubt there 
is a tendency to confuse the symbol with the god. 
Likewise, through a confusion of objective and 
subjective connection, there is an idea that the 
god enters into the image to receive the sacrifices 
offered by his faithful followers, and to listen to their 
adoration and prayers. Earthen vessels receive the 

ion r}IF. YOnUBA-SPEAKINO PEOPLES. 

llhationfl of blood and palm-oil, while the yolks of 
t»gjj«, wliich here, as elsewhere in "West Africa, are 
ifffiinltul as offerings peculiarly proper to the gods, 
nri' miu'iireil upon the posts, door-sills, and threshold.* 
hi iuiportant temples, and also in the houses of kings 
iinU chiofs of high rank, a tall drum, called a gbedu, ia 
kt'pt. It is usually covered with carvings represent- 
injf iiniiimls iitid birds, and the phalhiK. This drum 
in only hcatun at religious fetes and public ceremonies, 
and a portion of the blood of the victims immolated is 
iilways sprinkled upon the symbolic carvings, upon 
wliicli pfthii-wine, the yolks of eggs, and the feathers of 
(taorificed ebickons are also smeared. In this case the 
offering ia to tlie protecting spirit of the drum, which 
ie that of a slave who has been sacrificed on it. This 
plan of supplying an artificial guardian-spirit for 
objects, other than natural objects, which are con- 
sidered of importance, is a development of ghost- 
worehip, and on the Gold Coast such guardians are 
provided for the " stools " of kings and chiefs, as well 
U for temple and state drums. 

Sacrifice is the most important part of ceremonial 
WK^ip, and no god can be consulted without it, the 
Mtap of the offering varying with the importance of 
^ occasion. Besides the offerings thus made for 
^MmI purposes, or on special occasions, persons who 
^^ llgt followers of a god — that is, those who wear 
ly^^l^ljlQ^aishing badge and are believed to be under 
M — make, as a rule, daily offerings of small 

t nas used to propitinte tljc gociiless Isia 

^^ 

PRIESTS AXl) WOIISIIIP. 101 

value, such as a few cowries, or a little maize-flour, 
palm-oil, or palm-wine. 

As has already been mentioned, each god has cer- 
tain animals which it is proper to sacrifice to him ; 
to use the phraseology of the Old Testament, every 
god has his " clean " and his " unclean " animals. 
Some sacrifices are " imclean " to all the gods, as the 
turkey-buzzard (gnnu-gunu), the vulture {almla), and 
the grey paiTOt (ofe). As the two former devour 
offal and carrion, and are, in fact, scavengers, we can 

I a reason for considering them unclean ; but why 

i grey paiTot should also be so considered is not 
rideut. The natives endeavour to account for the 
* oncleanliness " of these birds by two popular say- 
ings, which run as follows : — 

"The turkey -buzzard was required to offer sacrifice, 
but he i-efused to do so ; the vulture was required to 
offer sacrifice, but he also refused. AVheu the pigeon 
was required to offer sacri6ce, he did so." 

" The grey parrot being required to offer sacrifice, 
refused to offer it ; but the green parrot took the 
sacrifice and offered it. After all, the grey parrot is 
a citizen of Oyo (the capital of Yoruba) and the green 
parrot an inhabitant of the country, and yet people 
thought that the grey parrot was not wise." 

As the turkey -buzzard, vulture, and grey parrot 
refused to offer sacrifice, they became " unclean," 
while the pigeon and the green parrot, which offered 
it, remained "clean." The latter part of the second 
saying appears to be ironical, for the grey parrot, in 
consequence of its un cleanliness, is never offered up, 
while the green parrot is sacrificed. 

102 THE YOHVSASPEAKnYG PEOPLES. 

On important occasions the priest d^guates to tlie 
suppliants the sacrifice which he thinks necessair 
to induce the god to lend a favourable ear. They 
prostrate themselves before the shrine with cries of 
" Toto, loto-hui," an exclamation which denotes humi- 
liation and submission, while the priest, in a long 
harangue, presents their petition, or case, to the god. 
He usually begins his address by flattering the god, 
dwelling upon his fame and power, and showing how 
his humble servitors are entirely dependent upon his 
good-will. Then he calls attention to the self-abase- 
ment of the god's faithful followers " So-and-so," to 
the value of the victim which they have brought him,, 
and begs him to be propitious and listen to their 
humble prayer. He then sacrifices the victim, sprinkles 
some of the blood on the image, pours the remainder 
on the ground,* and places the head and entrails in 
shallow earthen ves-sel in front of the temple. 

Sacrifices are thus offered in the presence of the 
god, that is, before his image, which he is supposed 
to animate for the time being, but there is one ex- 
ception to this general rule. This is, on occasioM 
when sacrifice is made at cross-roads, or at a point 
where several roads meet, in order to avert an im^ 
pending calamity. In this case the sacrifice is pro- 
bably made to the legion of spirits, mostly evil, who 
are supposed to haunt the forests and uninhabited 
tracts of coimtry; and the general belief is that th» 
approaching danger is diverted from the proper 
road, and turned away from the community which ifc 

• Whence it is that the verb da, " to be ponred out," haa also 
menning " to be acceptable ns a sncrifice." 

PIUESrS AND n-OIiSHIP. 103 

threatened. In reference to this practice a proverh 
says, " The cross-roads do not dread sacrifices."* 

Sometimes, in response to the appeal of the priest, 
the god answers in a bird-like, twittering Toice, first 
heard whispering at a little distance and then coming 
nearer. When this occurs, the worshippers lie ])rone 
with their faces to the ground, awe-stricken, while 
the priest carries on a conversation with the spirit- 
voice, and subsequently interprets it to the auditors. 
This conception that a spirit- voice should be a twitter- 
ing, chirping, or whistling sound ja very wide-spread; 
as Dr. Tylor has shown, it used to exist among the 
Greeks and Romans, and it may at the present day 
be found among the Indian tribes of North America, 
tho Zulus, and the Polynesians.! The spirit-voice is 
no doubt produced by a confederate priest, by means 
of a blade of grass, or a leaf, placed between the 
teeth. 

The image of a god which is merely tutelar to one 
individual is only treated with respect during the life 
of that individual, after which it is thrown away. 
Since the god is personal to the individual, and has no 
other purpose than to protect him, the image is only 
of use as a vehicle of communication between them so 
long as the man lives. After his death the god no 
longer enters or animates the image, which in conse- 
quence loses its sacred character, and becomes an 
ordinary object of no value. Thus, whenever a, man 
^nes, his tutelary god, if he had one, is thrown away 

r 

I* The ancients offered sacrificoa at tbc crose-roaJs to Heknte, 
if Wight. (Lucian, " Dialogues of tlio Dead," I.), 
"Primitive Culture," vol. i. p. 452. 

101 nil-: yoni'BA-sPKAh'iXG peoples. 

by tlio Hurviviiig lueiiiliers of the household, and the 
cixtraordiimry belief, iield by some Europeans, that 
tho iicgro makes and breaks his gods at will, may 
probably be accounted for as a misconception of this 
pnietico. 

AUliough liumaii sacrifices occur amongst the 
Yrjnilia tribes, we find among them no parallel to the 
wiioIcHJilc filuughters which take place, or rather used 
to take place, in Ashanti and Dahomi. The reason 
no doubt iH, that the Yoniba kings and chiefs are not 
Hufficiently powerful to lie able to sacrifice life on a, 
largo flcalo; for the more jwwerfnl the monarch, the 
more he can afford to disregard public opinion, and 
since the manses supply the victims, human sacrifices 
are never regarded by them with favour. Whether, 
when Yoruba was a homogeneous and powerful state, 
human sacrificen were a stiite institution, as they were 
in Dahomi, we bavu no moans of ascertaining, but all 
the probabilities point in that direction. 

During the period that the Yorubas liave been 
known to Europeans no large number of victims has 
been put to death even on the occasion of the death 
<ȣ a king. A king of Oyo died on April 27th, 1859, 
ukl only four men were sacrificed, but forty-two of 
Ik wives poisoned themselves in order to accompany 
^Hk lo the Land of the Dead. In Ondo about twenty 
5<«pft»$ were sacrificed when a king died, and there 
iMe-tMi iftftablished procedure, one victim having to be 
t when the corpse was washed, four at dif- 
1 (HaLlwnws to the palace, and a sixth in the 
milftklt»i)»liltcv. On tlie day of the burial from eight to 
bw%^u<MUtt8> with a cat, were either killed and interred 

^-i 

PRIESTS AXD WORSHIP. 105 

-vrkWi the corpse or buried alive, and during the three 
months which are required to elapse before a new 
king can be installed there were occasional sacrifices. 
In 1882 the king of Ondo entered into an engage- 
ment with the government of Lagos to put an end to 
human sacrifices, but he does not appear to have kept 
it. At the present day, amongst all the tribes, when 
a king or chief dies it is usual for two of his wives to 
commit suicide, and should no volunteers be forth- 
coming, two are selected and put to death. Horses 
are often killed and buried nnth their ownei's. 

There was until very recently, and perhaps still is, 
an annual human sacrifice at Abeoknta, called the 
" basket-sacrifice," a euphemism designed to conceal 
the real nature of the ceremony. The victim was 
enclosed in a long basket, as in Dabomi, from whence 
perhaps the custom was adopted, thrown down from 
a height, and despatched by a mob armed with clubs. 
It was a national offering, but when times were pros- 
perous the victim was often spared and dedicated to a 
god, whose temple-slave he then became. There used 
also to be an annual sacrifice of one human victim at 
Ikoradu, and a similar offering every sixth year to the 
god Ogun at Ikriku. 

In times of great urgency human sacrifices are 
offered to some of the gods, for example, to Shango, 
Ifa, Elegba, Ogun, Olokun, and 01o.sa ; but they aro, 
nearly always made at night, and the people arel 
required to remain in their houses. There is none of^ 
the publicity and display which we found in Ashanti 
and Dahomi, and so the people escape the brutal- 
ising effect which the frequent spectacle of scenes of 

lOtJ 

THE YOnVBA-HPEAKING PEOPLES. 

bloodalied must produce. Even the priests, always 
the last to be influenced by a change of public 
opinion, seem to regard human sacrifice as something 
to be deplored, but occasionally necessary. The vic- 
tim is slaughtered almost in secret, and the sound of 
the temple-drums and the mournful chants of the 
assistants alone inform the people of what is taking 
place. The natives avoid any direct reference to the 
subject. " The night is bad," they say. As on the 
Gold Coast, the victim is always decapitated in front 
of the image, so that the blood from the severed 
arteries may spurt over it. For Elegba the boUy ia 
opened and the entrails placed before him in a shallow 
dish. The body of a man sacrificed to the sea-god 
Olokun is thrown into the sea, and that of a man 
offered to Olosa into the lagoon. 

The Commissioners who were sent to the interior 
in 1886 to break up the camps of the belhgerent 
tribes, succeeded in inducing the rulers of Ijesa 
and Ekiti to sign an enactment abolishing human 
sacrifices, both to the gods and at the funeral obse- 
quies of men of rank. They endeavoured to obtain 
a similar undertaking from the Ifes, but here they 
met with some difficulty, Ife being the home of human 
BHCrifice, and though the chief men promised to put 
an end to tho practice, only four of the eighteen per- 
sons who composed tho Ife Council signed the agree- 
ment. The Oni of Ife said that sacrifice was made at 
Ife for the whole human race, the white man not ex- 
cepted ; and that if the sacrifice made on his behalf 
were to be discontinued, his superior knowledge, and 
the arts derived therefrom, would depart from him.

egungux, oro, abiku, and various superstitions. 

Egungun. 

Egungxtn really means " bone," hence " skeleton/' 
and Egungun himself is supposed to be a man risen 
from the dead. The part is acted by a man disguised 
in a long robe, usually made of grass, and a mask of 
wood, which generally represents a hideous human 
face, with a long pointed nose and thin lips, but 
sometimes the head of an animal. 

Egungun appears in the streets by day or night 
indifferently, leaping, dancing, or walking gro- 
tesquely, and uttering loud cries. He is supposed 
to have returned from the land of the dead in 
order to ascertain what is going on in the land of 
the living, and his function is to carry away those 
persons who are troublesome to their neighbours. 
He may thus be considered a kind of supernatural 
inquisitor who appears from time to time to inquire 
into the general domestic conduct of people, par- 
ticularly of women, and to punish misdeeds. 
Although it is very well known that Egungun is 
only a disguised man, yet it is popularly believed 
that to touch him, even by accident, causes death. 

108 THE YOni'B.i-SPEAK/XG PEOPLES. 

A crowd always stands round watching, at ft* 
respectful distance, the gambols of an Egungun, and 
one of the chief amusements of the performer is to 
rush suddenly towards the spectators, who fly before 
him in every direction in gi-eat disorder, to avoid 
the fatal touch. To raise the hand against Egungun 
is punished with death, and women are forbidden, on 
pain of death, to laugh at him, speak disparagingly 
of him, or say he is not one who has risen from the 
dead. " May Egungun cut you in pieces," is an 
imprecation often heard. 

Egungun is thus at the present day a sort of 
" bogey," or make-believe demon, whose chief 
business id to frighten termagants, busybodies, 
scandalmongers, and others, but it seems probable 
that originally he was regarded as the incarnation of 
the dead, and that the whole custom is connected 
with manes- worship. In .Tune there is an annual 
feast for Egungun lasting seven days, during which 
lamentations are made for those who have died 
within the last few years. It is a kind of All-Souls 
festival, and resembles the Ajfirah-hi festival of the 
Tshi tribes, described in the iirst volume of this 
Beries.* Moreover, Egungun also appears in con- 
nection with funeral ceremonies. A few days after 
the funeral an Egungun, accompanied by masked and 
(\ifig\iised nicu, parades the streets of the town at 
night, and, as in the Roman conclamatw, calls upon 
t\i8 deceased loudly by name. A superstitious and 
ViU •trightened crowd follows, listening for any 
tw^TiM! that may be given to the weird cries of 
• S«»'WTf\ii-Si>i:»ViiigPeop;ci= *if tlie Gold Cnr.Bt.." p. 227. 

KorxGUiV, ono, a.\d abiku. 109 

the Bgungun. A few days later the Egungun, again 
accompanied by several followers, proceeds to the 
house in which the death took place, and brings to 
the relatives news of the deceased, usually that he 
has arrived in Deadland safely, and is quite well. 
In return for the good news the family set food, 
rum, aud palm-wine in a room of the house, and 
inviting the Egungun to partake of it, themselves 
retire, for to see Egungun eating is death. When 
Egungun and his followers have consumed every- 
thing loud groans are heard to issue from the room, 
and, this being a sign that he is about to depart, the 
family re-enter and entrust him with messages for 
the deceased. 

A large proportion of the slaves landed at Sierra 
Leone, at the beginning of the present century, from 
slave-ships tliat had been captured by British cruisers, 
were Yorubas, and their Christian descendants have 
preserved the practice of Egungun, who may often 
be seen performing his antics in the streets of Free- 
town, There, however, bis disguise is less elaborate 
than in Yoruba country, and he appears in a long 
robe of cotton-print, with a piece of cloth, having 
apertures for the eyes, covering the face and head. 
Spectators soon gather round him, and though, if 
asked, they will tell you that it is only " play," many 
of them are half -doubtful, and whenever the Egungun 
makes a rush forward the crowd flees before him to 
? his touch. 

ffiape t 

Oko. 

rbe word Oro means fierceness, tempest, or pro- 

TIIK YOltrn.i.SPEAKrxG PEOPLES. 

TWAtioii, ami Om himself appears to be personified 
cscctitive pom>r. 

Oro is stipposod to haunt the forest in the neigh- 
bourhood of towns, and he makes his approach known 
by a stninpt", whirring, roaring noise. As soon aa 
this is heard, all women must shut themselves up in 
their lioiisos. nnd refrain from looking out on pain of 
death. The voice of Oro is produced by whirling 
round and nnind a thin strip of wood, some 2^ inches 
bnwd, 12 inches long, and tapering at both ends, 
which is fftJ>tenod to a stick by a long string. It is, 
in fuel, the instrument known to English boys as the 
" huH-ronixM'," and which Mr. Andrew Lang has 
ithowil to h:ive been used in the mysteries of Ancient 
UriHHT, Austmlia, New Mexico, New Zealand, and 
i^»«th Africa.* No women may see the " buU- 
rw*iTr" luid live, and all women are obliged, under 
)\Hin of dentil, lo way that they believe Oro to be a 
(Kivvt'cful Ori»hi\, and to act up to that belief. 

It) YorulM* country Oro is manipulated by the 
0(fb**ui SiH'iety. Criminals condemned to death are 
noiHotiuuvt ffivi'n to Oro, in which case they are ordi- 
tttti'il,v \w\v\' «wn again, but their clothes are sbown 
V>U(»tt^Wd in tho branches of a lofty tree, where Oro 
U •Ktd to h«V(* li'ft them when flying through the 
*il". Ill »iK^h a oiwo Oro is said to have devoured the 
Imviii'*. Siuni>liino», however, the headle-ss corpse of 
IIk* wiuiinni l» disoovpred in the forest on the out- 
kltirU I't thi' town, but nobody is allowed to bury it. 
UuWiv KK»i>Rt"'>. Oro only appears on his feast-days, 
Ml', tw um' ll»> imlivi' expression, when a town has an 
• " i>MUm Hiu) Mjtli," Art. " Tlie Ball-Itoarer." 

EGrxary, oho, a.vd abikv. in 

Oro-day. The voice of Oro is heard from morning to 
night, and all women are elosclj confined to their 
houses, while Oro himself, in a long robe hving with 
shells, and a wooden mask painted white, with the 
lips smeared with blood, parades the town with a 
numerous following. 

In Ondo there is an annual festival to Oro, cjiUed 
Oro Doko. It lasts for three lunar months, and every 
ninth day women are obliged to remain within their 
houses from daybreak till noon, while the men para'le 
the streets, whirling the bull-roarer, dancing, singing, 
and beating drums, and killing all stray dogs and 
fowls, on which they afterwards feast. A large 
boulder of granite, called Olumo, on the summit of a 
hill in Abeokuta, is sacred to Oro, and no one may 
ind it. 

Just as Bgungun is now used foi- social ]>urposes, 
'and to preserve order in private life, so is Oro used 
for political purposes, to preserve order in the com- 
munity at large ; yet, from the analogy of other 
peoples, and from the fact that it is death for a woman 
to see the instrument which produces the voice of 
Oro, there can be no doubt that originally Oro was 
the spirit that presided at the celebration of male 
mysteries, such as are found among the Kurnai of 
Australia, and he has perhaps been diverted from his 
proper purpose by the influence of the Ogboni. 

Abiku, oil, "that which possesses" ; ihu, " death"; 
hence, " predestined to death " is a word used to 

lUil I 

■ Ji 

I 

112 THE YORUIiA-SPEAKING PEOPLES. 

mean the spirits of children wlio die before reacliing 
puberty, and also a class of evil spirits who cause 
children to die; a child who dies before twelve years 
of age being called an Abiku, and the spirit, or spirits, 
who caused the death being also called Abikn. 

The general idea seems to be that the uninhabited 
tracts of country abound with numbers of evil spirits 
or demons, who suffer from hunger, thirst, and cold, 
since nobody offers sacrifice to them and they have 
no temples, and who are constantly endeavouring to 
improve their condition by entering the bodiea of 
new-born babes. Only one Abiku can enter and 
dwell in the body of the same child, and, as there is 
great competition amongst the Abikus for such a 
position, an Abiku is only suffered by his companions 
to enter peaceably, and, in fact, to be recognised as 
having vested rights in a child, on condition of his 
promising them a share of the comforts he is about to 
obtain. 

When an Abiku has entered a child he takes for his 
own use, and for the use of his companions, the 
greater part of the food that the child eats, who in 
consequence begins to pine away and become ema- 
ciated. If an Abiku who had entered a child were 
not bound to supply the wants of other Abikus who 
had not succeeded in obtaining human tenements, no 
great harm would ensue, since the sustenance taken 
could be made suflBcient both for the child and his 
tenant. It is the incessant demands that are made 
by the hungry Abikus outside, and which the in- 
dwelling Abiku has to satisfy, that destroy the child, 
for the whole of his food is insufficient for their require- 

EGUXGUy. ORO, AND ABfKC. 

chi 

ments. When a child is peevish and fretful it is 
believed that the outside Abikus are hurting him in 
order to make the indwelling Abiku give them more 
to eat; for everything done to the child is felt by his 
Abiku. The indwelling Abiku is thus, to a great 
extent, identified with the child himself, and it is pos- 
Bible that the whole superstition may be a corruption 
of the Gold Coast belief in the sts«.* 

A mother who sees her child gradually wasting 
away without apparent cause, concludes that an Abiku 
has entered it, or, as the natives frequently express 
it, that she has given birth to an Abiku, and that 
it is being starved because the Abiku is stealing 
all its nourishment. To get rid of the indwelling 
Abiku, and its companions outside, the anxious mother 
offers a sacrifice of food ; and while the Abikus are 
supposed to be devouring the spiritual part of the 
food, and to have their attention diverted, she attaches 
iron rings and small bells to the ankles of the child, 
and hangs iron chains round his neck. The jingling 
of the iron and the tinkling of the bells is supposed 
to keep the Abikus at a distance, hence the number of 
children that are to be seen with their feet weighed 

m~a with iron ornaments. 

Sometimes the child recovers its health, and it is 
ihen believed that this procedure has been effective, 
and that the Abikus have been driven away. If, 
however, no improvement takes place, or the child 
grows worse, the mother endeavours to drive out the 
Abikii by making small incisions in the body of the 
}hild, and putting therein green peppers or apices, 

Talii-K peaking Peoples of the Gold Coast," chap. x\. 

I 

114 THR YOnUBA-SPF.AKtyG PEOPLES. 

believing that she will thereby cause pain to the 
Abiku and make him depart. The poor child screams 
with pain, but the mother hardens her heart in the 
belief that the Abiku is suffering equally. 

Should the child die it is, if buried at all, buried 
without any fmieral ceremony, beyond the precincts 
of the town or village, in the bush ; most other 
interments being made in the floors o£ the dwelling- 
houses. Often the corpse is simply thrown into the 
bush, to punish the Abiku, say the natives. Sometimes a 
mother, to deter the Abiku which has destroyed her 
child from entering the body of any other infant she 
may bear in the future, will beat, pound, and mutilate 
the little corpse, while threatening and invoking 
every evil upon the Abiku which has caused the 
calamity. The indwelling Abiku is believed to feel 
the blows and wounds inflicted on the body, and to 
hear and he terrified by the threats and curses. 

Tree-Spirits. 

Several varieties of trees are believed to be 
inhabited by indwelling spirits, which are not exactly 
gods, but answer more to the hama-dryads of Ancient 
Greece, or to the elves of mediaeval Europe. From 
the analogy of the Tshi tribes there is little doubfc 
but that these tree-spirits were once gods of the 
Srahmantin type, i.e., of the type of those which on 
the Gold Coast are believed to animate the gigantio 
silk-cotton trees ; but now, owing to the great 
increase in the number of general objects of worship, 
which makes the propitiation of the local object 

EGu:^GUN, nno, a,vd abiku. ii5 

matter of less importance, they liave been shorn of 
a great deal of their power, and pushed more into the 
background. 

The Asharin tree is one which is inhabited by a 
spirit who, it is believed, would, if its attention were 
not diverted, drive away anyone who attempted to 
fell the tree. The woodman therefore places a little 
palm-oil on the ground as a lure, and when the spirit 
leaves the tree to lick up the delicacy, proceeds to cut 
down its late abode. 

The Apa, frequently called the African mahogany, 
is inhabited by an evil spirit, and is commonly seen 
encircled vrith palm-leaves, and with an earthen pot 
at its foot to receive the offerings of woodcutters. 
It is believed to emit a phosphorescent light by night. 
The wood of this tree is in some demand for the con- 
straetion of drums, which are hollow wooden cylinders 
covered with hide at one end ; but before it can be cut 
down the spirit must be propitiated by an offering, 
usually consisting of a fowl and some palm-oil. The 
Apa is the emblem of vengeance. 

The Troko (silk-cotton tree) is also inhabited by a 
spirit, but it is not very powerful or malicious, and 
when a man desires to fell such a tree it is sufficient 
protection for him to invoke the indwelling spirit of 
bis own head by rubbing a little palm-oil on his 
forehead. The Iroko is used chiefly for building, 
whence probably it comes to be the emblem of refuge. 

A proverb, referring to the risks a man runs in 
cutting down trees inhabited by spirits, says " The 
ase that cuts the tree is not afraid, but the woodman 
covers his head with eUi " {a magic powder). 
i2 

i 

THE yORUHA-SPFAKIXG PEOPLES. 
These customs may be compared with those of the 1 

modem Greeks of SipWnos, 

of the Cycladea. 

Mr. iient says " that when the ■woodcutters have to 
cut down a tree they suppose to be inhabited by a 
spirit (hamadryad), they are exceedingly careful when 
it falls to prostrate themselves humbly and in silence, 
lest the spirit should chastise them as it escapes. 
Cato also t instructs a woodcutter that, in order to 
escape the consequences of thinning a sacred grove, 
he must sacrifice a hog, and beg permission to thin 
the grove in order to restrain its overgrowth. 

As is the case among the Ewe tribes of the Slave 
Coast, wizards and witches are by the Torubas 
believed to hold nocturnal meetings at the foot of 
trees tenanted by spirits, more especially the Apa,. 
whose indwelling spirit is believed to assist them in 
their malpractices. Here, too, the owl again appears, 
but now, instead of the bird being the messenger o»i 
agent of the tree spirit, it is the wizard {Aje) himaelft 
who metamorphoses himself into an owl and proceeds 
on the mission of death. 

Witchcraft is, in the minds of the natives, thej 
chief cause of sickness and death. They cannd 
they think, attribute these evils to the gode, unleafl 
they occur in some way special to a god ; as, fo* 
instance, when a man is struck by lightning, in whicli' 
case the event would be attributed to Shango — op 
contracts small-pox, when the disease would be attri- 
buted to Slianpanna ; for they are very careful tot 
keep on good terms with the gods, by scrupulously 

" The Cycln.le3," p. 27. 

t '■ De Re Rustic 

EGUNGUN, OliO, AND ABIKV. U7 

observing their religious duties. They consequently 
attribute sickness and death, other than death result- 
ing from injury or violence, to persons who have for 
bad purposes enUsted the services of evil spirits, that 
is to say, to wizards and witches. Witches are more 
common than wizards, and here, as elsewhere in the 
world, it is the oldest and most hideous of their sex 
who are accnsed of the ciime. 

Properly speaking, a person charged with witch- 
craft should be subjected to trial by ordeal, and then, 
if found guilty, immediately executed ; but the excited 
populace, filled with superstitious terror, frequently 
acts without waiting for proof, and puts the accused 
to death without trial. Curiously enough, the phe- 
nomenon that so frequently occurred in England, when 
a belief in witchcraft was an article of faith, appears 
here also ; and old women, accused of being witches, 
very often acknowledge that they are, and charge 
themselves with deaths which may have recently 
occurred in the community. 

Amulets and charms {onde) are numerous and of 
various kinds. 8ome, like the co-sesao of the Ewe 
tribes, are really the badges of different gods, such as 
the aji(de, or iron armlet worn by hunters, who are the 
servitors of Ogun, god of iron, and possess no -virtue 
of themselves, being merely useful as serving to 
remind the gods that the wearers are under their 
protection. Others are amulets proper, and are 
beheved to derive a protecting power from the gods, 
from whom they have, through the agency of the 
priests, been obtained. Amulets are generally sewn 
up in leather casus; those obtained from Moham- 

118 THE YOSfTBA'SPEAJCmG PEOPLES. 

medans, and which usually consist of a verse from 
the Koran, always are. 

The name onde means " one in bondage,!' and : 
compounded of eni, "a person," or " one who,* 
and ide, " the act of being confined." This namfl 
seems to point to the former existence of a belief 
similar to that now held by the Tshi-tribes in regard'! 
to the Suk7>ian ; namely, that the amulet is animated 
by an indwelling spirit, who has been confined therein 
by a superior power. At the present time, however,i 
the onde cannot be regarded in any way as beings 
animated, or an orisha. Prayers are never addressed*, 
to it, nor are offerings presented to it ; it is merely' 
the instrument or vehicle tlu"ougb which the god from' 
whom it was obtained acts, and by means of which 
events which affect the wearer of the onde are brought 
to the knowledge of the god. 

An onde for the protection of the person is worn on 
the body, being tied round the wrist, neck, or ankle^ 
or placed in the hair. Others, for the protection of 
property, are fastened to houses, or tied to sticks and 
stumps of trees in cultivated plots of ground. In 
consequence of their being tied on to the person or 
object they protect, the word edi, which really means 
the act of tying or binding, has now the meaning of 
amulet or charm, just as in Ewe the word vo-sesa 
(amulet) is derived from vo and m, to tie or bind. 
Another word sometimes used to express amulet is 
ofjun, which, however, more properly means medicinal 
preparation, poison, or magical drug. 

The following are some examples of current super- 
stitiouB. 

I to' 

(1) The fur of the choro, a kind of hare, is a charm 
which protects the house from fire. 

(2) A house fumigated with the bark of the crun 
tree is purged of evil spirits and, consequently, of 
sickness. Charcoal made from the wood of this tree 
is largely used as a medicine. 

(3) Powder made of the leaves of the sensitive 
plant, is a charm to make the inmates of a house fall 
into a deep sleep, and is used by thieves. 

(4) To kill an ajal>:o, a kind of jackal, brings 
misfortune upon the slayer. A proverb says, " He 
who kills an ojaLo will suffer for it." 

(5) The flocking of vultures denotes impending 
war. These birds prey on the slain, and so, by an 
inversion of ideas, are supposed to cause war. 

(6) To break the bones of the crane called aijnfoit 
causes calamity. 

(7) "Whoever touches the nest of the bird called 
ogurodo will die. 

The Yorubas have the same superstitions in regard 
_to the hooded crow, porcupine, tortoise, and wild cat 
as have the Ewe tribes,* 

By country-custom no Yoruba may milk a cow, and 
'in consequence cows are always tended by foreign- 
bom slaves, usually Fulani. 

We find a curious example of the manner in which 
objective and subjective connection are confused in 
the expression, Ahede ni it okim — " Right through is 
the cutting of the sword-fish." This saying is used 
as a charm by warriors, and ia believed to ensure suc- 

• "Efte-Siieaking Peoples," iip, 95, 97, mid 98. 

120 nil-: YOliUIiA-SPEAKlS'G PKOPLKS. 

C088, IjecausB it is supposed that the sword-fish (oHra) 
cuts in two all its foes in the sea. 

Tho Yorubas have a superstition which has close 
points of resemblance to the " changehng " super- 
stitiou of Northern Europe. It is referred to ii 
many folk-lore tales, and the following is an example. 
" There lived at Otta " (a village on the River Ho, 
which is a tributary of the Ogun) "a woman named 
BnUi, who had a male child. When the child was 
ttnmll the mother carried him on her back when she 
went to market, but when he became about nine 
months old sho used to lay him down on a mat in 
lior house, fasten the door, and go to market by 
liorsclf. After this it always happened that when 
sho returned from the market she found that all the 
food she had loft in the house had disappeared. This 
Boomed to her very strange, and she at first suspected 
her neighbours, hut she always found the door- 
fastening untouched, and was unable to fathom the 
iDyatory. 

" One day a neighbour came to her and said, ' I am 
going to the market at Orichi to-morrow morning 
eaiir, and therefore must ask you to repay me the 
gof cowries that you sent your little hoy to borrow 
B me.' Bola, much astonished, declared that she 
[ ^ifrowed no cowries from the woman, and had 
^^^^^ to her; but the neighbour persisted that 
U^^Athadoome toher, and had borrowed a string 
^^_i^ gt bW name of his mother. ' Come, then,* 
^^^^«n£ M» my child.' 

I Tent into tho house where the 
C«i his mat. 'You see him,' said 

EGryoTy. oiio, Ayo .\uiKr. 121 

Bola, ' thore be is, sleeping. Do you nut see that he 
is yet too young to walk ? How then could he come 
to you ? And how could he ask you for cowries, 
seeing that be cannot yet talk?' 

" The neighbour looked closely at the child, and 
then solemnly declared that it was really be who had 
come to her, but that when he came he was much 
bigger than be was now, and had the appearance of 
a child of about ten years of age. 

" Wlien Bola heard this she was much distressed. 
She could not doubt her neighbour's word, and she 
feared that Iier child must be possessed by an evil 
spirit. She paid the neighbour the string of cowries, 
and begged her to say nothing; then, when the child's 
father came to the house, she told him the whole 
story. 

" The father and mother decided to search into the 
mystery. The father, therefore, carefully hid himself 
in the house, one day while the mother and child were 
out. Then Bola returned to the house with the child, 
put him down on the mat, said to him, ' Sleep good 
while I go to the market,' and then went out, and 
fastened the door as usual. 

" Scarcely had Bola gone, than the father, from his 
hiding-place, saw the baby stand up, and begin to 
grow till he became a big boy. Then he went to the 
calabashes where the food was kept, and was beginning 
to eat it, when the father came out from his hiding- 
place. 

" Immediately the child saw his father he became 
a little baby again, and lay on the flooi' crying. He 
was possessed by a spirit. His mother came back, 

and they beat him to drive the spirit out, so that tlie 
spirit fled." 

The parallel between this tale and the changeling 
stories of Northern Europe is close. In the latter, 
as in the Yoruba version, the changeling, while in the 
presence of its foster-mother and others, affects to be 
an infant, but throws off his disguise as soon as he 
imagines himself to be alone. See, for instance, the 
tale called " The Father of Eighteen Elves," in 
Arnason's collection of Icelandic legends.* The only 
difference — an important one, it is true — is in the 
genesis of the changeling. In Europe it is an el6n 
child, who is substituted for a stolen human child, but 
here it is the child himself who is possessed by an 
evil spirit, just as an Abikii possesses a child, though 
with different results. 

We also find a superstition which recalls that of the 
were-wolf, for the hyena (Kpelehpe) is often supposed 
to be a man who assumes that disguise at night, to 
prey upon sheep and cattle, and, if the opportunity 
offers, upon human beings. Such man -hyenas are 
believed to be able, by means of certain howls and 
cries, to compel people to go out to them in the dark 
forest to be devoured. A similar belief ia found in 
Abyssinia.t The weird " laugh " of the hyena, and 
its nocturnal habits, no doubt account for this super- 
stition, just as similar causes have led to the owl being 
universally regarded as a bird of ill omen. 

A beUef in metamorphosis is universal, and is not 

■ London, B. Bentley, 1 8(14. 

■f Mansfield Parkyns, " Life in Abjssinin," vol. ii. ji. HG. 

EGUNGUX, ono, AND AlilKU. 

limited to a change to an animal form, since men and 
women are sometimes transformed into trees, shrubs, 
rocks, or natural features. The shrub Imje, whose 
fruit is used to stain the skin in imitation of tattoo 
marks, was a Yoruba belle of that name, who was 
metamorphosed. Her story will be found among the 
Tortoise Stories in the chapter on Folklore. 

The lyewa lagoon is also said to have been a woman. 
The story runs that a poor woman, named lyewa, had 
two children, whom she had a hard struggle to sup- 
port; but she used every day to go with them into 
the forest to gather firewood, which she carried to the 
town and sold for food. One day, when following 
her customary avocation, she and thechildrcu, finding 
wood scarce, wandered further into the forest than 
usual, and, when it was time to return, they could not 
find their way ont. They walked hither and thither 
looking for the path, but in vain, and at last, tired 
out and tormented with thirst, they lay doivn to rest 
under a large tree. This rested their limbs, hut 
their thirst increased , and the two children filled 
the forest with their lamentations, crying to their 
mother for water. The poor woman, half dis- 
tracted, sprang to her feet, and again searched in 
every direction for the path and for water, but fruit- 
lessly, and when at last she returned to her children 
she found them almost at the last gasp. Then, prcs- 
trating herself upon the earth, she called upon the 
gode to come to her assistance and save her children. 
The gods listened to her prayer, and lyewa was at 
once changed into a lagoon, at which the children 
drank and so recovered ; while next day they were 

I J? I THE YORUBA^SPEAKING PEOPLES. 

fo\uid by neighbours who had come in search of them, 
Hiul taken back to the town. When the children 
grew up they built a house by the side of the lagoon, 
which, in memory of their mother, they called Odo 
lyewa, " The Lagoon of lyewa."

THE INDWELLING SPIRITS AND SOVLS OF MEX. 

In the first volume of this series we found that the 
Tshi-speaking peoples believe that every mau has 
dwelling in him a spirit termed a kra, which enters 
him at birth and quits him at death, and is entirely 
distinct from the soul, which, at the death of the 
body, proceeds to the Land of the Dead, and there 
continues the life formerly led by the man in the 
world. In the second volume, we found that the Ewe- 
speaking peoples have a similar belief, the indwelling 
spirit being by them termed a hiwo. The Ga-speaking 
tribes, situated geographically between the Tshi and 
Ewe tribes, have modified this belief, and they assign 
to each individual two indwelling spirits, called k!a, 
one male and one female, the former lieing of a bad 
and the latter of a good disposition. Each Ha, like 
the hra and the liuco, is a guardian-spirit, but — and this 
is a new departure — they give good or bad advice, and 
prompt good or bad actions, according to their re- 
spective dispositions. The Yorubas also have modified 
what appears to be the original theory of one in- 
dwelling and guardian-spirit, and they hold that each 
man has three spiritual inmates,' the first of whom, 

ua Tin: yorvba-spbakisg peoples. 

Olori, dwells in the head, the second, Ipin ijeun, intlie 
stomach, and the third, Ipori, in the great toe. 

Olori {Oni-orl, owner, or lord, of the head) some- 
times called Ori (head, faculty, talent), seems to be 
tie spirit which answers to the Ira or }uwo. He ia 
the protector, guardian, and guide. Offerings are 
made to him, chiefly fowls, as with the kra and lum, 
and some of tho blood, mixed with palm-oil, is rubbed 
U|>im the forehead. Olori brings good-fortune, whence 
the proverb, " Olori causes the owner of the head 
to prosper, and not the crab on the bank of the river." 
The symbol of Olori is half a calabash studded over 
with cowries. 

Ipin ijnin, or ipin ojehun (ipin, share, portion; tjeun, 
act of eating, from je okun, to eat; hence "he who 
Rhares in the food "), is perhaps considered the most 
important of tho three indwelling spirits, but as he 
shares in all that the man eats, he hag no special 
sacrifice offered to him. A proverb says, " There 
is no orisha like the stomach ; it receives food 
every day." In some respects hunger (ebi) seems 
Jo be personified, and to bo considered the agent 
of Ipin ijeun ; for he is said to communicate to 
the man. by pinching his stomach, the desire of his 
fOTOcipal for food. Curiously enough, Ipin ijeun is 
«tB»Ml«^l with fire-worship. There is among the 
Vtvohns DO god of fire, answering to the Ewe god 
7*t, ^M" :iri*itH<i1 was probably once personified, for 
' k«-n of as Abanigbele, " the Inmate." It 
•V what process fire-worship came to be 
«j«.i^. -. .th tbab of the indwelling spirit of the 
■^i t-he natives explain the connection 

TIIK IXDWia.UNG SPrniTS AXD sni/f.S OF.VKX. 127 

between the two by saying that fire is necessary for 
the preparation of food, and food is necessary to Ipin 
ijeun, therefore he takes fire under his protection, and 
takes care that it is not extinguished. A proverbial 
Baying runs, " Tpin ijeun does not allow fire to depart 
from the earth." "When fire could only be produced 
by the tedious process of rubbing together two sticks, 
it was no doubt important to keep one or two embers 
of a fire always smouldering. 

Ipori, the great toe, is the least important of the 
three guardian spirits, and sacrifice is rarely offered 
to him, except when a man is about to set out on a 
journey ; in which case he anoints the great toe with a 
mixture of fowl's blood and palm-oil. AYatcrfowl are 
apparently " unclean " for this purpose, for a proverb 
says, "A waterfowl is not fit for the worship of Ipori." 

The ghost-man, or soul, the " vehicle of individual 
personal existence," is called iwin, or oJca7i, but the 
latter also means " heart." Another word is ojiji, or 
oji, which has the meanings of ghost, shade, or 
shadow. After tlie death of the body, the ghost-raan 
goes to Ipo-oJcn, " the Land of the Dead " {Ipo, 
place; ohit, dead), which is beneath the earth, and 
where each man does that which he has been accus- 
tomed to do, and holds the same social position as he 
did in the world. To enable the ghost to reach this 
land it is essential that he should have the prescribed 
funeral rites performed over him. Should they be 
omitted, the ghost wanders about the world, cold, 
hungry, and homeless, and he runs the risk of being 
seized by some of the evil spirits which roam about 
the earth in great numbers, and cast by them into 

;^ 

1^8 7//A- rOnun.i.SPKAK/XG PEOPLES. 

Onni-apadi, " the unseen world of potsherds," an 
uncomfortable place like a pottery furnace, heaped 
up with charcoal and the di-bris of broken earthen 
pots. Funeral rites cannot, of course, be pei-formed 
at the moment that breath leaves the body, but as 
an earnest of their intention to perform them, and to 
])revent the evil spirits from seizing the ghost, the 
relations at once offer a sacrifice to propitiate them ; 
and when the corpse is buried, a fowl, called Adire- 
iranna* "the fowl that buys the road," that is, " that 
opens a right of way," is sacrificed. 

A comparison of the beliefs held by uncivilised 
peoples concerning the dead, seems to show that when 
in a very low state of culture, the ghost, no doublt 
from the association of ideas, is held to remain in tha 
vioinitv of the grave in which the body was interred; 
and that the notion of a distinct and separate place 
of ttbodo for (he dead, or Deadland, is only formed 
wbon ft higher degree of culture is attained. The 
Arttt heliof often lingers on alongside the second, 
W ttt Knglftii''- where the churchyard is considered' 
wj j,^ (ho most likely place in which to see a ghost; 
mj ^^ similttr survival among the Yorubas, or a traeft 
«*l *llw «»ww<" belief, is found in the word iboji, "» 
-,^,».." *hK«h means, literally, "place of the ghost" 
^ " ', .--host). 

1 n'tnm to earth, and are bom agaia 
, . wliich they belonged in their former 

A»^t ^i^iv iwight say that they always return, 
kuMiUhrr wnda for a hahalawo to tell her 

■^ 1^ Itct of purcliasinjt a right of wny, from 

THE lND)VKr.LI.\G SPIUfTS AXl> StlU/.S OF MEX. 120 

what ancestral ghost has animated her new-born 
child, and the halalawo always tells her which it is. 
As the births at least equal in number the deaths, 
and the process of being re-born is supposed to have 
gone on " from the beginning," logically there ought 
to be few, if any, departed souls in Deadland ; but 
the natives do not critically examine such questions 
as this, and they imagine Deadland to be thickly 
populated, and at the same time every new-born 
child, or almost every one, to be a re-born ghost. 
As was mentioned in the volume on the Ewe-speaking 
peoples,* this belief in metempsychosis is probably 
a result of a confusion between the iloU, or disem- 
bodied liiico (in Tshi, the aiga), and the soul or ghost- 
man, and we may here endeavoiu- to sketch in the 
origin and probable development of these various 
beliefs. 

Thei-e can be little reasonable doubt but that the 
notion that man possesses a soul, an entity that 
continues his personality after death, arose from 
dreams, after the manner shown by Mr. Herbert 
Spencer in his " Principles of Sociology." t A man 
dreams that he is going through various adventures, 
but, as the evidence of his companions shows him 
that he has not really left their company, ho comes 
to the conclusion that he has a second individuality, 
something that is himself and yet is detachable, some- 
thing that can go out of him, and does so go out when 
he is asleep. Among the lower races all over the 
world, dreams are believed to be the adventures of 

* Pp. 114 and 115. 

t Pp, 148 el teq. 

130 THE YOnUBA-SPEAKING PEOPLES. 

the spiritual man while detached from the bodily 
man during sleep. Then, as he dreams of raea 
whom lie knows to be dead and buried, an< 
naturally dreams of them as he was accustomed tn 
see them, he concludes that this second individualitj 
can and does exist, entirely independently of thi 
body, after death, and preserves the appearance ani 
characteristics of the bodily-man. At this stage ) 
belief the spiritaal-man, or life-phantom, and tin 
eoul, or ghost-man, are one and the same. Thefl 
seemingly, in some cases, this second individualifr 
becomes divided into two separate entities — one, i 
life-phantom, which enters the body at birth, goe 
out and indulges in adventures during the sleep c 
the body, and quits it at death ; the other, a soa 
or death-pliantora, which, after death, continues th 
life and personality of the former bodily-man. 

It is possible that thia conception of two difierei 
entities was brought about, partly at least, by fci 
desire to explain the re]>roduGtion by heredity < 
physical characteristics. Children generally resemb3 
their parents, and frequently reproduce their mannei 
isms most remarkably. As soon as the savage begii 
to speculate at all, ho begins to think of this phi 
nomenon, which cannot fail to arrest his attentioi 
He can, and no doubt often does, come to the coi 
elusion that the dead are reborn again in thfl 
descendants ; he invents the doctrine of metej 
psychosis ; but in some cases, and the negro tribi 
of the Gold and Slave Coasts seem to be example! 
he appears to feel that this explanation is unsatis- 
factory. And for this reason. He still dreams of ;| 

THE IXDWELLIXG SPISIT6 ASD SOULS OF MEJf. 131 

persons who are dead, whence he believes that they 
enst after death; and he most often dream of dead 
friends or relations whoso characteristics have been 
reproduced in their children, or, since they had a 
common ancestor, in some collateral member of the 
same family. He cannot, then, in these cases, 
conclude that the dead have retnmed to earth in 
tbe persons of their descendants ; for the evidence 
of his di'eams proves to him that they still exist as 
ghost-meu, and are in every respect as they were 
when alive in the world. On the other hand, the 
evidence of his eyes shows him that their physical 
peculiarities are reborn in children now living. He 
therefore divides the second individuality into two 
— from, so to say, the kra-soul, which was one entity, 
he makes two, the Jrra and tlie soul, the former of 
which inhabits the body during life, and after death 
enters a new human body in the same family ; while 
the latter remains dormant, as it were, during life, 
but after death continues the existence of the man 
as an individual. The reproduction of features, 
mannensms, &c., is thus accounted for by the kra, 
while the theory of the soul satisfactorily accounts 
for what the uncivilised man believes to be the 
incontestable evidence of his dreams.* 

If this view be correct it will probably be found 
that several other races have divided the originally 
conceived entity into two. The genius natalis of the 

' Tlie Awunas, an Eastern E*e tribe, snj that the lower jaw is the 
only part of the body which B chilli derives from its mother, all thu 
Utt being dcrircd from thn ancestral liiwoo (llm Tshi Iru). Tin 
hnivhes notiiing. 

k 

13-2 THK YOItUBA-SPEAKI XG PEOPLES. 

Romans resembled the kra in that it was a guardian- 
spirit which entered man at birth, but, nnlike the 
kra, it perished at his death. It was certainly quite 
separate and distinct from the aoul, or ghost-man, 
which went to Hades. We say advisedly that tlie 
genius natalis dwelt in the man from birth, because to 
practise abstinence was " to defraud one's gemns" 
and to eat, drink, and be merry was "to indulge one's 
geiuiis," * thus showing that the tjenius was bound up 
with the man jnst as is the kra. As with the Irra, the 
birthday was particidarly set apart for the worship of 
the f/enius. Subsequently, the Romans, under the 
influence of dualism, just as the GSl-tribes have done, 
divided the genius into two — one of a good disposition 
and one of a bad. 

Similar conceptions of two entities, the hra, or life- 
phantom, and the soul, or death-phantom, among the 
Navajo and Algonquin Indians of North America, the 
Karens of Burma, and the Fijians, were mentioned in 
the last Tolume,t but whether these people believe 
in metempsychosis is uncertain ; and to them Tm 
may now add the Greenlanders,J and the and* ' 
Egyptians, whose l-a appears to closely resemble the 
/iTa.§ A correspondent informs me that the Irisfc 
peasants of County -Mayo also believe in an entiW 
like the Ira. They call it the " spirit," consider it to 
be perfectly distinct from the soul, and liable to ba 
stolen by the fairies during the sleep of its posses 
who, on awakening, is ignorant of his loss, but grador 

• See TibullM, Bolin's Edition, noUt I, p. I2C. 

t Pp. 16 and 17. % Ci-biiz, GrSnland, ]>. 251. 

§ S. Laing, Human Oriffinf, p. IIll. 

THE INDWELUXG SPIHITS AND SOULS OF HEX. 138 1 

ally fades away and dies. It is also liable to be seized 
by the fairies, at the moment of death of the person 
whose body it has tenanted. 

The Yornbas, it seems probable, have arrived at 
the doctrine of metempsychosis after having passed 
through a phase of belief similar to that now held by 
the Tshi and Ewe tribes. The beUef in one in- 
dwelling spirit has been changed into a belief in three 
indwelling spirits, and this multiplication has caused 
confusion. These indwelling spirits do not, at the 
death of the body, enter a new-born human child in 
the same family, so that the phenomena of heredity 
cannot be explained as being due to their agency ; 
and the Yorubas have reverted to the theory of me- 
tempsychosis to account for them. The belief in the 
spirits called abihi. is very probably a corruption of 
the former /.to belief, for if a slm, or disembodied 

^_ira, enters a human body it causes sickness and death, 

Htost as the abilm. does. 

^r The souls of the dead are sometimes reborn in 
animals, and occasionally, though but rarely, in plants. 
In the ideas of the natives, animals, though they differ 
in shape from a man, possess passions and moral 
qualities identical with those of the human being. 
Animals also possess souls which, like the souls of 
men, go to Deadland. Hence, as men and animals 
have so many characteristics in common, it does not 
require any great stretch of imagination for the native 
to fancy that the soul may be re-born in an animal. 
When a plant is concerned the difference is greater ; 
L but if, as we hold, the Yoruba tribes passed through a 
kse of belief similar to that held bv the Tshi tribes 

Tin: Yonun.uspKAKiXG peoples. 

at the present day, they at one time believed that 
trees, shrubs, &c., and, in fact, all things not made 
by human hands, were animated by kras, which may 
account for the extension of the doctrine of metem- 
psychosis to objects so unlike man. 

The animal in which human souls are most com- 
monly re-born is the hyena, whose half-human laugli 
may perhaps account for the belief. Human souls 
are also reborn in different kinds of monkeys, but 
chiefly in the solitary yellow monkey, called oloyo; 
and in these cases the human appearance and charac- 
teristics of monkeys no doubt furnishes the key to the 
belief. 

As has been said, the re-birth of a human eoul in a 
plant is rarely spoken of, and usually we can discover 
the reason for the supposed transmigration, as in 
following tale : — 

" There were two boys, brothers, who knew an6 
sang the popular songs of the country so well, that 
they were in great demand for festive occasions. 

" One day they were asked to go to a festival at 
neighbouring village, and their mother gave them 
permission. 

" They went to the village, where the people wer* 
assembled to play, and they sang their songs and 
beat their drums so well that the jieople rewarded 
them highly. They gave to each boy a thousand 
cowries, and plenty to eat and drink. Then they 
dismissed them next morning to return home. 

" On the way back the elder boy, covetous of the 
thousand cowries that had been given to the younger, 
led him off the path into the forest, and murdered 

^BE INDWKLUXG SPiniTS AXr> SOVLS OF MEN. 185 

Then he took the thousand cowries, added 
them to those which he already liad, and returned 
^omc. 

' When he came back aloiie, his mother asked him 
^here was his brother. ' I left him behind on the 
toad,' said the boy. 

' The day passed, and nitjlit began to fall, and still 
! younger brother had not returned home. Then 
bis mother and ber neighbours went to look for the 
ihild, but they could not find him. They searched 
' for him for many days, but found him not. They 
concluded that someone had carried him off to sell 
him. 

' Some months afterwards the mother went into 
ihc forest to look for leaves for medicine, and she 
»me to the place where the child had been murdered. 
J body of the boy had already decayed, and from 
lis bones had sprang up an olu,* The vhi was very 
fine and large, and when the mother saw it she cried, 
* Oh ! what a fine ohi' She was stooping down to 
»ick it, when the olu began singing — 

' Do not pluck 

Do not [iluck 

Uo not pluck 

I'm I 

me, motber, 

uic, mother, 
toivlj plant on tie jji'ound. 

' I ffotit to tbe villugc frolic, 
I went to tlio Tillage frolic, 

I'm a lowly plant ou tbe gronnd. 
1 was givi'n a thbiiean'l cowries, 

I'm a lowly plnnt on the gronnd. 

' Ot\i, an eUil'Ic fungus. 

Tin-: ronuBA-sPEAKixu peoples. 

■ Do not [jluck me, mothisr, 
Di> not plnck mp, niotlier. 
Do not pluck ine, mother, 

I'm a lowly plant on tlio ground. 

My brother received a. thousand cowries, 
My brotlier received a thousand cowries, 

I'm a lowly plant on the gromid. 
lint lie .*lew nie here for my cowries, 

I'm a lowly plant on the ground.' 

" Wlion thy motliei" heard the olu sing this she 
ran home, called her husband, and the two returned 
to the forest. AYhen the man saw the fine olut he 
stretched out his hand to gather it, and the olu \ 
again — 

' Do not iiluck me, father.' 
(etc., etc., as before.) 

" The father went to the king of the country, and 
told him all that had happened. The king himself 
came to see the olu. He stooped to pick the olu, and 
the olu sang — 

' Do not ]ilack me, obn.'' 
(etc, etc., as before.) 

" Then the king sent and ordered the elder brother 
to be brought before him. And when the boy heard 
what the olu had sung he confessed. The king said, 
' Ah you took your brother and slew him, so will we 
now take yon and slay you. Then shall the child 
come back to life.' 

" So the elder brother was killed and the younger 
came back to life, as the king had said." 

Here the connection between the olu and the dead 

• Uha. liing. 

TITE IXmVKL/JXG SfllUTS ASI) SoULS OF MEN. 137 

child is obvious. It sprang from his bones, and was 
nourished by his docaying body, so that it might well 
be imagined that the soul of the child, which stayed 
with the remains instead of proceeding to Deadland, 
because uo funeral rites had been performed, passed 
into the fungus. 

As we have eaid, the soul, or ghost-man, after the 
death of the l)ody, proceeds to Deadland, and food, 
drink, cowries, and property of various kinds are 
placed in the grave with the corpse, to equip tlie 
ghost for his new sphere ; while, before the grave is 
filled up, a goat is sacrificed to the deceased, and 
wishes offered for his safe journey, such as " May you 
arrive in peace," " May you not stray from the right 
path," &c. 

It would certainly appear as if the dead were cog- 
nizant of and able to influence the affairs of the living, 
for it is usual for offerings and prayers to be made to 
them from time to time ; and sometimes the skull of 
the deceased is exhumed and placed in a small temple, 
where offerings are made to it. Before taking the 
field for war, too, offerings are made at the graves of 
warriors of renown, and their assistance in the com- 
ing campaign is supplicated. Yet a proverb saj'S, 
"As grass cannot grow in the sky, so the dead cannot 
look out of the grave into the street," from which it 
might be inferred that the dead are not cognizant of 
what is taking place in the world, or at all events do 
not know what is occurring till it is made known to 
them through the medium of sacrifice, and several 
folk-lore tales point to this conclusion as well. The 
following is an example : 

138 rUK YOnUDA-^PKAKTKG PEOPLES. 

A woman, an inhabitant of an inland town, who 
was going to the sea-shore to make salt by boilii^; 
sea-water, a common industry, and who expected to 
be away from home for some time, gave, on the eve 
of ber departure, and in the presence of witnesses, a 
necklace of valuable beads to a neighbour, to be kept 
for her during her absence. The neighbour, a woman 
with two boys, accepted the trust, and, foi- safe 
custody, made a hole in the mud wall of her Louse, 
into which she put the necklace, and then closed the 
aperture ■ft'ith fresh mud, which she smoothed down 
to conform with the wall. Unfortunately the woman 
died before the owner of the necklace returned, and 
the secret of its hiding-place died with her, so that 
when the owner at last came back and claimed her 
property, it could not be foimd. 

The woman made a great commotion about the 
loss. She would not believe the two children when 
they declared that they had not seen or even heard' 
of the necklace, and she took them before the chief,, 
and charged them with theft. The chief heard the 
case. The fact of the necklace having been entrusted 
to the deceased woman was proved; the boys declared- 
that they knew nothing of it, but the chief held thafci 
they were responsible. If they had not stolen it 
they knew where it was. They must restore it or 
pay the value. Such was the chief's decision, and in 
order to compel the elder boy to make restitution, ho 
caused the younger to be " put in log," and threatened 
to sell him if the mi.=sing property were not recovered 
within a certain time. 

In this dilemma the elder boy, knowing that human 

THE INDWELtTNQ SPIRITS AUD SOULS OF MEN: 139 

agency could avail him nought, sought assistance 
from the gods. He went to the head priest of the 
babalawos at the town of lEe, unfolded his tale, and 
begged for aid, The priest consulted the god Ifa, 
and Ifa replied that in order to know what his mother 
had done with the necklace, the boy must go to Dead- 
land and ask her. The child said he was ready to 
go, but how was he to get there ? Then the oracle 
instructed him as follows : — 

*' Let till? child in scarcli of Lis raotljpr 
Offer an ebon sliocp to tlic doad. 
Wlieu night fnlla in the grove of Ifa. 

" Let the child in search of his mother 
Sprinkle his ejea with lustral vrater, 
Tlica aliall the deait be visible to him. 

" Let the child in search oE his mother 
Follow thu Bhitdowa' noiscloRa footsteps, 
So shall he rench the land of the dead." 

I 

The habalawo instructed the boy that, upon making 
the necessary payment, the door-keeper of Deadland 
would allow him to enter, and he warned him not 
to touch any of the dead, or else he would not be 
able to return to earth. Supposing all went well, and 
he returned again to the grove of Ifa, from which he 
would set forth, ho must again sprinkle his eyes with 
the water of purification, to restore their natural 
properties to them, and then offer a living sacrifice 
to Ifa in gratitude for his assistance. 

The boy followed out his instructions to the letter, 

and arrived safely in Deadland, where he saw his 

mother seated near a spring, around which many 

iier dead people were walking slowly or sitting 

H* 

niK YOHI'ISA-SPKAKINO PKOPLES. 

\Uiwiu He approached liis mother and called to hefj 
whoroupon abe rose and came to him, saying, " Whai 
)trii)g!* thee here my son ? Why Last thou come to the 
luiul of the dead ? " The boy replied, " The chiei 
luvs put ray brother in log, and will sell him as a 
{(Iftvt! if the necklace which was given thee to keej 
iH not restored to our neighbour. Ifa the Great, tha 
Unvfilor of Futurity, the Governor of Lots, liM 
permitted me to come here to ask thee where it is. 
Siiy, where is it ? " Hia mother told him that it was 
hidden in the wall, explaining to him how to find the 
exact spot, and the boy was so overjoyed that, 
forgetting the warning of the priest, he tried to 
embrace her ; but she stepped back hastily and 
avoided him, saying, " Touch me not my son, or thft 
road to the world will be closed to thee for ever. Go 
home and effect thy brother's deliverance, and make 
friHpiont offerings to me, for I need them much." 
Then shy turned away and went and sat down aj 
by the spring. 

The boy came back to the world, and found himself 
in tlie gnive of Ifa, where he sprinkled his eyes a0 
diroeted, and offered sacrifices. Then he went to thfl 
chief and told him what had occurred ; so th« 
lU'cklaco was found and his brother released. Thfl 
two boys wore not neglectful of their mother's laafc 
ro(iuc8t. Every fifth day they placed fresh offerings 
ou hor gi'avc, and kept it always plentifully supplied 
with fresh water. 

In this story the dead mother evidently did not 
know what was going on in the world above, for 
she had to ask her son wliy he came, yet she 

^E /ND WF.I.I.ISll SPJR/TS A AV) SOt'J.S OF MKX. UI 

able to reap the advantage of the offerings made on 
her grave. 

Ordinarily, people do not have to undertake the 
dangerous iourney to Deadland in order to consult 
the dead. "When the members of a family wish to 
know how a departed relative is faring below, they 
apply to a priest, who takes a young child, bathes his 
face in water of purification, which, it may be 
remarked, is prepared with edible snails and shea- 
butter, offers a sacrifice in a new earthen vessel, digs 
a hole in the earth in a sacred grove in the middle 
of the night, and bids the child look into it. Through 
the magical properties of the lustra! water, the child, 
on looking down into the liole, is able to see into 
Deadland, and so can tell the priest all that is going 
on there. AVhen the priest has obtained the in- 
formation he requires, he again bathes the child's 
eyes with the water of purification, which causes him 
instantly to lose all recollection of what he has seen 
and heard. The priest thus remains the sole 
lOseeBSor of the information, and he is able to tell 
J family that employed him what he pleases.

TiTE Yorubas reckon time by moons and weeks. A. 
moon, or montb, is tbe period of time between one 
new moon and the next, and, as is tlie case with all 
peoples who count by lunar months, the day com- 
mi'iiccH at aunset, that is at the hour at which a new 
moon would ordinarily be first perceived. 

Tbo custom of measuring time by lunar months 
nppDare to be common to all uncivilised peoples, the 
roKi'l'i'* ri!Curronce of the moon at fixed intervals of 
time ivIToriliug a natural and easy mode of computing 
itn liipsp. The measurement of time by weeks, that 
it* hv Kub-divisions of tlie lunar month, seems, in the 
present Htivto of our knowledge of the modes of 
luertsuiini; tii"" amongst the lower races, to be rather 
esceptionid ; hut the subject is one that has been 
much negloRtod by travellers, and there is but 
little infornmtion from which a conclusion may be 

Tl ' Tshi'tribes of the Gold Coast have (as was 
mt«to<\ ill tlve first volume of this series) a seven-day 

^V ov to ^'P '""""^ '''"'''*'''*' ^^^^ ^'^^'^ ^""'^^^ *^^ 
U,J moiUli. which is approximately twenty-nme^and 
Tm d.,.. Wg. into four parts, each of seven days 

M£ASUIiE.'ifENTS OF TIME. U3 

and about nine hours. Hence, as before said,* eacb 
week commences at a different hour of the day, the 
reason of this arrangement being that twenty-nine 
and a-half will not divide exactly into halves and 
quarters. The first day of the first week of the lunar 
mouth commences when the new moon is first seen ; 
the first day of the second week commences some nine 
hours later, and so on. 

The Ga-tribes have an exactly similar mode of 
measuring time, but their names for the days of the 
week are not the same as those used by the Tshi- 
tribes. They are — 

I 1st. DsJi. 5tli. So-ha. 

m 2nd. Ssu-fo. 6th, Ho. 

" ard. Fso. 7th. So-gha. 

4th. So. 
which, it will be seen, seem to consist of three pairs 
and an odd one, the third day. 

The Yoniba week consists of five days, and sis of 
them are supposed to make a lunar month; but, as a 
matter of fact, since the first day of the first week 
always commences with the appearance of the new 
moon, the month really contains five weeks of five 
days' duration, and one of four days and a-half, 
approximately. The Benin-tribes to the east are said 
to have a similar method, and the Yoruba-tribes have 
perhaps borrowed the five-day week from them. 

The Tshi and Ga-tribes thus add a few hours to 
each seven-day week in order to make four of these 
periods coincident with a lunar month, and the Yoruba- 
grtbes deduct about twelve hours from the last five- 
"Tshi-Bpeakiiig Peoples of the Gold Caatt'" fi[>. 215, ilC. 

THE YonUJiA-SPKAKING PEOPLES. 

day week in order to make six of these periods t 
witli a lunar month. The reason is obvious. Twent 
nine and a-half will not divide, and the 
numbers that will are twenty-eight and thirty. Tl 
Tshi and Ga-tribes have adopted the former as th 
integer to be divided, and consequently have had t 
add some hours, while the Yorubas have adopted tb 
latter and have had to deduct. 

We have said that to divide the lunar month intl 
weeks appears to be exceptional among the lowe 
races, but we have some examples. The Ahantaa 
who inhabit the western portion of the Gold Coasi 
divide the lunar month into three periods, two of I 
days' duration, and the third lasting till the next nei 
moon appears, that is, for about nine days and a-half 
The Sofalese of East Africa must have had the sanu 
system, forDe Faria says that they divided the monti 
into three weeks of ten days each, and that the fira 
day of the first week was the festival of the net 
moon.* 

When a people has progressed sufficiently far in 
astronomical knowledge to have adopted the sola 
year as a measurement of time, the month, for tla 
reason that an exact number of lunar months will no 
make up a solar year, becomes a civil period 
calendar month, and is arbitrarily fixed at a certai] 
number of days, or some months are made of ■ 
length and some of another. When this occurs, ani 
the month is disconnected from the moon and 
phases, it seems that the week — which was properly ( 
sub-division of the lunar month, and was no doubt 
* Aatley's Collection, vol, iii,, p. 307. 

Mf:ASrnEMENTS OF TIME. 145 

designed to mark the chief phases of the moon — also 
becomes a civil period, and is a sub-division of the civil 
month. The ancient Greeks had a civil month of 
thirty days, divided into three weeks, each of ten 
days; and the Javanese, before the sevon-day week 
was adopted from the Mohammedans, had a civil 
week of five days.* The former thus resembled the 
Ahantas, and the latter the Yoriil^as, and no doubt 
when the Greeks and Javanese reckoned time by 
lunar months instead of by civil, they, like the 
Ahantas and Yorubas, struck off the superfluous hours 
from the last sub-division of the month. 

The names of the days of the Yoruba week are as 
foUowB : — 

1. Ako-ojo . First day. 

2. Ojo-awo . Day of the Secret {sacred to Ifa). 

3. Ojo-Ogun . Ogun's Day. 

4. Ojo-Shango. Shango's Day. 

5. Ojo-Ohatala. Obatala's Day. 

Alco-ojo is a Sabbath, or day of general rest. It is 
considered unlucky, and no business of importance is 
ever undertaken on it. On this day all the temples 
are swept out, and water, for the use of the gods, is 
brought in procession. Each of the other days is a 
day of rest for the followers of the god to which it is 
dedicated, and for them only, Ojo-Shango being the 
Sabbath of the worsliippers of the thunder-god, and 
Ojo-Ogun for those of the god of iron, but Alco-Ojo is a 
day of rest for all. A holy day is called Ose (se, to 
disallow), and because each holy day recurs weekly. 

L 

RufflpB' " History of Java," toI. i. p. 475. 

146 THE YOHVBA-SPEAKIXG PEOPLES. 

Ose has come also to mean the week of five days, or 
the period inten^ening between two holy days. 

There appears to he good reason for supposing tlifi 
the institution of a general day of rest, not only 
jimong the Yorubas, but in most, if not all, other 
cases, may be referred to moon-worship. The first 
day of the first week of the lunar month is reckoned 
from the appearance of the new moon, and was, ve 
think, a moon-festival, or holy day sacred to tho 
moon. This holy day, before the invention of weeka, 
recurred monthly, but after the lunar month was sub- 
divided, it recurred weekly, and was held on the first 
day of the week. The Mendis of the hinterland of 
Sierra Leone, who reckon time by lunar months, but 
have not divided the month into weeks, hold a new- 
moon festival, and abstain from all work on the day of 
the new moon, alleging that if they infringed tliia 
rule corn and rice would grow red, the new moon 
being a "day of blood." From this we may perhaps 
infer that it was at one time customary to offer human 
sacrifices to the new moon. The Bechuanas of South 
Africa keep tlie twenty-four hours, from the evening. 
on which the new raoon appears till the next evening, 
as a day of rest, and refrain from going to their 
gardens.* These are examples of monthly moon- 
Sabbaths observed by peoples who do not reckon Im 
weeks. 

The first day of the Tshi week, which in the firai 
week of the lunar month is the day of the new moon, 
is called Dyo-da (Adjwo-da) "Day of Rest," and is 

• LivinRstftiip, "TrnvelK in Smitli Africn," [> 23.1. 

.UKASriiKMKXTS OF TIME. 147 

general day of rest. The otter days of tlie week are, 
as with the Yorubas, days of rest also, but only for 
particular persons, and not for the whole coniinunity. 
The second day, Bna-da, is sacred to the sea-gods, 
and is the fisherman's Sabbath; while the fifth day, 
Fi-da, is the Sabbath of agriculturists. The first day 
of the Ga week, which is also a general day of rest, 
is called Dsit, "Purification." Dsu seems also to have 
been used as a title of the moon, for we find silver 
called (Zstt-etet, " moon substance," or "raoonstonej" 
and in the cognate Ewe and Yoruba languages, the 
moon is called Dsu-im and Oshxi respectively. Owing 
to later and more anthropomorphic conceptions of 
gods moon-worsliip appears to have died out, though 
all these peoples salute the new moon respectfully 
when it is first seen, and a Tshi epithet of the moon 
is boksum, " Sacred," or " God." "When, however, 
moon- worship flourished, the moon would undoubt- 
edly have been a general god, worshipped by the com- 
munity as a whole; and hence the day dedicated to the 
moon is a general day of rest, and not, like the other 
days of the week, a day of rest for certain persons 
only. In the case of the Tshi and Ga tribes, we thus 
have examples of a weekly moon-Babbathj observed 
by peoples who reckon by weeks. 

It seems probable that the Jewish Sabbath was also 
connected primarily with moon-worship, and at first 
was a monthly festival like that of the Mendis and 
Bechuanaa, but became a weekly festival after the 
Jews adopted the seven-day week from the Baby- 
lonians. In the historical books of the Old Testa- 
ment, viz., .Joshua, Judges, the books of Samuel, and 

THE rOltUBA-SPF.AKISa PKOl'I.ES. 

I 

tbo first book of Kings, there is not only no mcntioi 
of a weekly Sabbath, which is first spoken of : 
II. Kings iv. 23, but there is evidence that such i 
institution was unknown; for the encompassing ■ 
Jericho,* the events described in I. Samuel xxix. an( 
sxx., and Solomon's fourtoen-day feast,t would al 
have violated the injunction, "Let no man go out o 
his place on the seventh day," J had there been : 
weekly Sabbath. But while the weekly Sabbath i 
not mentioned we find a new moon festival spokei 
of. § In all the later works, written after contao 
with the Babylonians, we find frequent mention < 
Sabbaths, but nearly always in connection with nei 
moons, and the day of the new moon was itsel 
observed as a day of rest, or Sabbath. |[ That th 
Jewish Sabbath should come to be called the seventi 
day, though originally the day of the new moon, an 
consequently the first day of the lunar month, can I 
readily understood. When a holy day recurs ever; 
seventh day, the day on which it is held is natural! 
called the seventh day. Thus the day of the Yomb 
Sabbath, which recurs every fifth day, is called th 
fifth day of the week, though the meaning of th 
name aho-ojo is first day. 

That, on a day dedicated to a god, no manner ( 
work should be done by the followers of that g0( 
seems to be a custom of universal application, 
stention from work was doubtless considered a mo< 

• Joshuft vi. 13— IC. t I. Kings rui. G5. 

} Exodus x»l. 29. 5 I. Sanmel is, 5. 18, 24, 26. 

\ Eaekiel xWi. 1 ; Amos viii, 5. See also Neheniiah x. 81 
aiah i. 13 ; Ixvi. 28 ; Ezekiel slv. 17 : Hosca ii. 1 1. 

MEASrRKMBXTS OF TIME. 

of showing respect for the god, and since a want of 
rrepect for a god would be conuoonly beliered to be 
followed by some panishment indicted by him, the 
proposition tliat it is unlucky lo do work on a holy 
day naturally becomes accepted. Thus the Yorubas 
consider it unlucky for anyone to work on the ako-ojo, 
or general Sabbath, and for the followers of the gods 
to whom the other days are dedicated to work on 
those days. For a follower of a god to violate the 
day sacred to that pod is as serious offence among the 
Tslii, Gra, Ewe, and Yoruba tribes, as to break the 
Sabbath was among the Jews ; and, as with the Jews, 
is punished with death, the notion being that if the 
Honour of the god is not vindicated by his followers, 
they will suffer for the neglect. The Sabbath-breaker 
is, in fact, killed by the other worshippers of the god 
from motives of self -protection. On the Gold Coast 
toy fisherman who dared to put to sea on Una-da, the 
fiaherman's Sabbath, would inevitably, in the old days, 
iave been put to death. Persons who were not fish- 
ermen, and who consequently were not followers of 
the gods of the sea, might do as they pleased ; for in 
that spirit of toleration which always accompanies 
polytheism, they were held to be only accountable to 
their own gods. 

Among the Yoruba tribes markets are held weekly, 
that is, every fifth day. The day of the market varies 
iin different townships, but it is nevur held on the alco- 
ojo. From this custom of holding markets every fifth 
day has arisen another mode of computing time, 
bamely, by periods of seventeen days, called eia-di- 
9gnn (three less than twenty). This is the outcome of 

150 TIIK YOliV ISA-SPEAK! S'G PEOPLES. 

the Esii. societies, or subscription clubs, whicb 
general amongst tbe Yoruba tribes, and still exisi 
under tbe same name, among tbe negroes of Yorub) 
descent in tbe Bahamas. The members of an E8\ 
society meet every fifth market-day and pay the) 
subscriptions, each member in turn taking the whol 
sum contributed at a meeting. The first and fiftl 
market-days are counted in, and thus tbe number 
seventeen is obtained. For instance, supposing the 
second day of a month to be a market-day, the second 
market would fall on the 6th, the third on tbe lOth, 
the fourth on the Uth, and the fifth on the 18th. 
The fifth market-dayj on which the members meetti 
and pay their subscriptionsj is counted again as thft 
first of the nest series. These clubs or societies ardl 
so common that the seventeen-day period has becom* 
a kind of auxiliary measure of time. 

(hail is day, In contradistinction to onf, tiight. The; 
division of the day and night into hours is not knowDj 
but the day is divided into the following periods, vil 
hiln-httu, early morning ; mmro, morning, forendoi 
ijaiigav, or osan gangan (ffangan, upright, perpend 
cular), noon; (/i-s/te^-po/e (shadow-lengthening), aft* 
noon ; and askale, or ashewale, evening, twilight. Tl 
night is divided into periods of cock -crowing, as ahtk 
Hhiwaju (the cock opening the way), first cock-croi 
ing; ada-ji, or iida-Jma, time of second cock-croivinj 
and ofere, or <;/'(', tlie time of cock-crowing just befa 
sunrise. 

Odim means " year," and, like the word 
" week," also an annual festival whicb is celebrate 
in October, and tbe period of time intervening betwei 

MEASUREMENTS OF TIME. 

two such festivals. The year is divided into seasons — 
Ewo-erun^ dry season; Ewo-oye, season of the Har- 
mattan wind ; and Ewo-ojo^ rainy season. The last is 
again divided into ako-roj first rains, and aro-JcurOy last 
rains, or little rainy season.

CEREMONIES AT BIRTH, MAltlilAUE, AND DEATH. 

I. At Birth. 

The ceremonies at birth resemble in the main thos 
observed by the Bwe-»peaking peoples, and describe 
in the last volume, but there are a few changes whiol 
may be attributed to increased priestly influence. 

As soon as the pangs of labour seize a woman 
priestess takes charge of her, and has the care < 
her and the child; while, soon after the child 
born, a hahalawo appears on the scene to ascerta; 
what ancestral soul has been re-born in the infani 
As soon as this important point is decided, 
parents are informed that the child must confon 
in all respects to the manner of life of the ancestor 
who now animates it ; and if, as often happens, they 
profess ignorance, the hahalazco supplies the necessar; 
knowledge. 

Seven days after birth, if the child be a girl, 
days, if it be a boy, the hahalatco comes again am 
offers a sacrifice of a cock and a hen to Ifa 
the Olori, or indwelling spirit of the child's head 
after which, in order to prevent Elegba from intt 
fering with the mother and child, the entrails of t 

CEREMONIES AT BIRTH, MAIiltlAGE, AXD DEATH. I58:| 

two sacrifices are sprinkled with palm-wine, taken 
ontside the house, and placed before his image. 

Then follows a ceremony which appears to be one 

of purification, for here, as among the Tshi and Ewe 

tribes, the mother and child are considered unclean, 

M are women during the menses. The water which 

ffl always in the earthen vessels placed before the 

images of the gods, is brought to the house and 

thrown up on the thatched roof, and as it drips 

down from the eaves the mother and child pass 

three times through the falling drops. The hahalawo 

text makes a water of purification with which he 

bathes the child's head, he repeats three times the 

name by which the infant is to be known, and then 

holds him in his arms so that his feet touch the 

ground. After these ceremonies have been duly 

performed the fire is extinguished and the embers 

carried away ; the house is then carefully swept out, 

live coals are brought, and a fresh fire lighted. We 

thus appear to have a combination of a purification 

by water and a purification by fire. After the new 

fire has been kindled, another sacrifice of fowls is 

jnade to Ifa, and the proceedings are at an end. 

II. At Maehiagk. 

When a man desires to marry a girl, his parents 
visit her parents and make proposals of marriage. 
If they are accepted, the suitor sends a present of 
native cloths and kola-nuts, and, after consulting a 
bahalawo, a day is appointed for the wedding. 

15-t THE YOnirnA-KI'KAKING PEOPLES. 

The marriage-feast ia held at the house of the 
parents of the bridegroom, and the bride is con- 
ducted there by a procession of women, who sing 
an epithalamium. The bride is put to bed by a 
female of the bridegroom's family, who remains 
concealed in the apartment till the bridegroom has 
joined the bride; after which she secures the "tokens 
of virginity," and, coming out of the room, displays 
them to the assembled company. She then carries 
them to the house of the parents of the bride, who 
never attend a daughter's wedding-feast, and next 
morning they are hung on the fence for the edifica- 
tion of the public. In this abstention of the bride's- 
parents from the feasting and merrymaking, wo 
perhaps find a lingering siirvival from marriage byj 
capture. The producer of the " tokens " is seleetei 
from the family of the bridegroom to ensure tha8 
there is no deception, because the husband's family 
has no interest in falsifying the facts, while thff 
wife's family has ; but virginity in a bride is only 
of jjaramount importance when the girl has been 
betrothed in childhood. The marriage-feast is con- 
tinued on the next day. 

It is not uncommon for newly-married couples 
to visit some celebrated shrine and offer sacrifice 
together, a practice which, together with the fixing 
of the wedding-day hy a habalajno, shows an in- 
creasing disposition on the part of the priests to 
control or interfere with matters which are purely 
social and quite beyond the domain of religion. 

EREMOMES AT Blirrjr, MARIUAGK, A.\D DEATH. 1J5 

III. At Death. 

I ceremonies observed by the Yoruba tribes at 
ath chiefly differ from those of the Ewe tribes in 
lie addition of various religious observances. 
When the breath has departed from the body there 
' is the usual outburst of exaggerated grief, mth loud 
cries, lamentations, and frenzied gestures, and the 
eldest son of the deceased, or the bi-other, if there be 
no son, at once sends for a babalaico, to ascertain if 
the deceased died from natural causes, or through the 
machinations of witches. The bahalawo, after sacri- 
ficing a fowl, inquires at the oracle of Ifa, by means 
of the board and sixteen palm-nuts; and if it affirms 
that the death was caused by witchcraft, further 
inquiry is made to know if any other member of the 
family is threatened with a like fate, and also if the 
soul of the deceased is in danger of further molesta- 
tion from the evil spirits who have been influenced 
by the malpractices of the sorcerers. Should the 
oracle declare that the soul of the deceased is in 
danger, a sheep or goat is sacrificed, and the carcass, 
sprinkled with palm-oil, is carried outside the town, 
and deposited at a spot where two or more paths 
meet, which has the effect of causing the evil spirits 
to disperse in as many directions as there are paths. 
The babalmco then prepares the usual water of puri- 
fication with shea-butter and edible snails, and dip- 
ping into the vessel a palm-branch, sacred to Ifa, 
sprinkles the corpse, the room, and the spectators 
with the fluid. At the same time he invokes the soul 

THE YORUJiA-SPF.AKlNG PEOPLES. 

of the deceased to leave tlie house as soon as the 
funeral rites have been perfonnedj and proceed peace- 
fully to its destination, wishing it a safe journey. He 
says, " May the road be open to you. May nothing 
evil meet you on the way. May you find the road 
good when you go in peace." 

After these preliminaries, the corpse is washed with 
rum, or a decoction of aromatic herbs, and attired in 
its best clothes. The thumbs and the great toes are 
then tied together, If the deceased be a man the 
head is shaved, and the hair, carefully wrapped up in 
a piece of white cotton, is buried in tlie earth behind 
the house. If a woman, the exposed parts of the 
body are stained with a decoction of the bark of a 
tree, wliich gives a reddish hue to the skin. Finally, 
the corpse is wrapped up in many native cloths, and 
placed on a mat at the door of the room. 

In the meantime a death-feast has been prepared, 
and now commences, wliile outside the house a con- 
tinual beating of drums is kept up, together with 
frequent discharges of musketry, fired in honour ot 
the deceased. The feast, at which intoxicants are 
used lavishly, soon becomes a veritable orgie, in which, 
however, the chief mourners, that is, the widows and 
daughters of the deceased, take no part ; for as soon 
as they have performed the last offices for the dead, 
and have placed the corpse at the door, they are shut 
up in an adjacent apartment, where they are com- 
pelled by custom to remain during the three days 
that a corpse invariably lies in state. While thus 
immured they are forbidden to wash, and usage 
re(iuires them to refuse all food, at least for the first 

CEREMONIES AT Ji/l!T/f, MAHJUAGE, AND DEATH. 157 

twenty-four hours, after which they usually allow 
themselves to be persuaded to take some nourishment. 

The conventional mourning is the business of the 
women of the houaehoUl, who, while the men are 
feasting, utter loud lamentations in the room in which 
they are confined ; and, in conseqiience of this, the 
epithet isohm, "a mourner," is often applied to a 
female child ; a male, on the other hand, being some- 
times called iivale, " a digger," i.e., of a grave, A 
father might thus say that he had begotten two 
mourners and a digger, meaning two daughters and a 
son. Female friends usually come to join in the 
lamentations, the conventional character of which is 
referred to in the proverb " A mourner mourns and 
goes on her way (without afterthought), but one who 
ponders over sad memories moiirns without ceasing." 
There are also professional mourners, chosen for their 
poetical turn of expression, whose services are en- 
gaged in well-to-do households, and who often con- 
trive to work up the real mourners to a condition of 
frenzied grief. A professional mourner sings in a sad 
tone, which rises and falls in a modulated wail ; " He 
is gone, the lion of a man. He was not a saphng, or 
a bush, to be torn out of the earth, but a tree — a tree 
to brave the hurricane ; a spreading tree, imder which 
the hearts of his family could rest in peace," &c. &c. : 
while the widows and daughters lament their lonely 
and unprotected state, somewhat as follows: — 

" I go to the market ; it is crowded. There are 
many people there, but he is not among them. I 
wait, but he comes not. Ah mo I I am alone. 

" Never more shall I aee him. It is over ; he i 

THE YOnUBA-SPEAKlXG PEOPLES. 

gone. I shall see liira no more. Ah me ! I 
alone. 

" I go into the street. The people pass, but he is 
not there. Night falls, but he comes not. Ah mej 
I am alone. 

" Alas ! I am alone. Alone in the day — alone ia 
the darkness of the night. Alas ! my father (or hus- 
band) is dead. Who will take care of me P " 

On the afternoon of the third day of the wake tlm 
body is placed on some boards, or on a door taken o1 
its hinges, covered with a rich native cloth, and 
borne at a trot through the streets by the men. Malff 
friends and relations accompany the bier, singing th# 
praises of the deceased, and throwing handfuls of 
cowries among the spectators. This procession re- 
turns to the house towards evening, and the corpse ic 
then interred in a grave that has been dug in the 
earthen floor, and which is so contrived that the head 
of the deceased may project beyond the Hne of tha 
outer wall of the house. Most of the cloths in whiclj 
the corpse is wrapped are taken off, and the body, 
covered with grass mats so that no earth may soil it^ 
is cai'efully lowered into the grave. A coffin is some-i 
times used, but not often. Food, rum, and cowries 
are placed in the grave, the body is sprinkled withn 
the blood of a he-goat, sacrificed to propitiate Elegba» 
a few more cowries are thrown in, and then the grave 
is filled up amid the wishes for a safe and pleasant 
journey to which we have already referred.* 

"When the grave is full the earth is smoothed dowii» 

" Clinpter vii. 

VEHEMOXIES A T UIHTH, MARIUAGE, .4.V/) DEA Til. 159 

and sometimes, when many articles of value have been 
entombed, the surface is moistened with water to 
make the earth settle down, and slaves and depen- 
dents are made to sleep on it night after night, for 
the double purpose of protecting it and of obliter- 
ating all trace of its exact position. After the inter- 
ment, the feast, which bad been suspended since the 
afternoon, recommences; and drinking and shouting, 
amid the firing of muskets, the jangle of native 
gongs, and the dull thnd of tbe drums, continues all 
night. 

Next day, about noon, the male relations walk out 
in a body, and wander about the townj as if looking 
for tbe deceased, and chanting " We look for our 
father, and cannot find him"; to which the bystanders 
reply, " He has gone to his house." Returning from 
this, the mourners carry on the feast till the evening 
of the next day, when the bones of the victims that 
have been sacrificed, and those of the fowls and sheep 
that have been eaten by the guests, are collected and 
placed over the grave. All the articles which the 
deceased bad in daily use, such as his pijie, tlio mat 
on which he slept, the plate or vessel from which he 
ate, his calabashes, and other things of small value, 
are carried out into the bush and burned. 

Up to this point the soul of the deceased is sup- 
posed to have been lingering near his old home, and 
this destruction of his property is intended to signify 
to the soul that be must now depart, since there is no 
longer anything belonging to him. In former times 
the destruction of property was carried much further 
than at present. Usually the apartment in which 

ic(i rni: YonrnA-SPEAKixn peoples. 

tfae deceased is buried is closed, and never used aguin, 
and sometimes the roof is removed. Rich families 
even abandon the house altogether, and it is said to 
have been usual in days bygone to burn it. The 
deceased is called three times by name, and adjured 
to depart, and no longer haunt the dwellings of the 
living. After this invitation to be gone, the fowl, 
called adife-iranna* is sacrificed, which, besides se- 
curing a right-of-way for the soul, is supposed also 
to guide it. The feathers of the fowl are scattered 
nmund the house, and the bird itself carried out to a 
hiish-road, where it is cooked and eaten. The road 
MU which the adire-iramia is eaten must be outside the 
t«wn ami lead away from it, for though the natives 
Ivlipve that Deadland is under the earth, they think 
»lwt it is necessary to eat the fowl on a road leading 
ittlo the bush, in order to place it in a proper position 
fwp tvmmencing its office of guide to the soul. 

Thv rclwtions may not wash themselves or comb 
<Wir \\\w during the funeral ceremonies, in conse- 
^jwiuv of which the rites themselves are sometimes 
»»^vM i\h, "Unwashed." On the last day they shave 
*hvir Ut^dx, and then pay visits of thanks to those 
W h^i AMtfftod at the funeral. The time of mourning 
l*h%4<th«> fHiuclusion of these ceremonies varies with 
•W ttmk ami influence of the deceased, and with the 
kMittht^Vi Three months is usually considered long 
VU^'UjfU, \\\\\ u commemoration-feast is often held a 
jlWil' ah^»v |lu> dwith. During the period of mourning 
" m\v utudt Ih> loft unkempt as it grows, and women 

■ Sw]i. 128. 

CEREMOMJiS AT niUTII, MAHRIAGE, AND DEATH. Ifll 

must cover tho head with a cloth of a dark blue 
colour. A widow remains shut up for forty days, and 
may not wash her cloths during that time. 

It is considered the greatest disgrace to a family 
not to be able to hold the proper ceremonies at the 
death of one of their number, a notion which is com- 
prehensible when we remember how much the welfare 
of the soul of the deceased is supposed to depend 
upon their performance. Hence families not un- 
frequently reduce themselves almost to beggary in 
order to carry them out, or pawn or sell their children 
to raise the money necessary. Sometimes, too, they 
conceal the death and hide the body until they have 
secured the requisite means, and such concealments 
have been known to last for three or four months. 
The body is treated with resinous herbs so that it 
becomes desiccated, and, while it remains in the house, 
the soul is believed to abide in its old home, where 
food and drink are provided for it, till such time as 
the proper ceremonies can be held, and it be legiti- 
mately ushered on its new career. 

A common imprecation is Oku igbe, " Bush 
death," meaning " May you die in the bush, alone 
and uncared for, and so receive no funeral-rites." 
A proverb contrasts a man's duties to his relations 
with those towards tho members of any secret society 
to which he may belong, such as the Ogboni, and 
insists upon the importance of the former, because 
of the obHgation upon his relations to bury him. 
It runs, "A roan must honestly perform all the duties 
incumbent on relationship, even though he may belong 
to a secret society. When he has attended to the 

162 THE rORUBA-SPEAKTNG PEOPLES. 

society he mast attend to his relations, because it i 
they who must bury Mm ■when he dies." 

This desire for a very ceremonial fimeral, whiol 
owes its origin to the native beliefs concerning thi 
soul, lasts long after the negro has been transplant* 
across the Atlantic, and has lost all notion of its 
motive. In most of the West India Islands, but 
particularly in the Bahamas, where the bulk of tlKi 
negro population is of Yoruba descent, a gran^ 
funeral is considered the greatest desideratum. 
attain this end, burial-societies are formed, tb| 
members of which pay subscriptions all their live 
in order to be buried with pomp. Every membef 
of such a society is bound to attend the funeral i 
another member, and the result is a procession ■ 
men in uniforms, more or less grotesque, witJ 
banners and various insignia. Often a band head 
the cortege, and many a man occupies his lu 
moments in giving directions as to the manner i 
which the funeral is to take place.* 

• See the following, which appenred in tlio Nue/au Guardian, Nen 
Providence, Bahamas, lOth January. 1891 : — 
NOTICE. 
All to whom it may conceru. 
Dear Friends, 

Mr. A B hud been a member of the Grant's Town Friend 

Society for many year?, and wsb financial up to July, ]891, 

his illnesH he requested that the Band of the said Society play t 

Dead Mareli in F<aul when he died. The meeenge cHm< 

rri'sident from Mr, J C S , ex-Preaident of the Sodel| 

The Band, in conjunction with the members, waa summoned to t 
at the Society's Hnll, in nniform, at 8 o'clock sharp. The mem 
were present waiting on the Band, hut only the finudniastcr and t 

CEREMONIES AT BIRTH, MARRIAGE, AND DEATH. 103 

When a man dies abroad his family make the 
greatest exertions to obtain something belonging to 
him, over which the usual rites may be held. Hair 
or nailparings are most sought for this purpose, 
but, if these cannot be obtained, a portion of the 
clothing worn by the deceased suffices. Such remains 
are called eta^ a word which seems to mean some- 
thing brought from one place to another. Through 
a confusion between objective and subjective con- 
nection, these relics, which bring the deceased to 
mind, are suppposed to bring the soul to the place 
where the funeral ceremonies are held. 

other members came, and they bad to leave the Hall, proceeding to 
the hoose of the deceased without the Band. 

I am sorry to say that if the Band cannot attend on members 
(deoeased) of the Society to which they belong, it will be best for the 
Society to do away with the Band. If members are paying their 
monies towards Band Fands, they shoald have the use of the Band 
when required. 

(Signed) Z. C . 

Pres. G. T. F. Society. 

m2

SYSTEM OP GOYEBSMEST. 

TnK mnnarchical system of government prevails in 
most of tlie Yomba tribes, but the king is merely 
ilic nominal head of the state, and has little real 
power, wliieh remains in the hands of the chiefs 
and ohlerc, without whom the ting can do nothing. 
In each state there is a council of elders, without 
whoso concurrence the king can issue no edict, 
and a two-thirds' majority of which is required 
for any new law. The sovereignty of a state ifl 
hereditary in one family, hut the individual who is 
to succeed to the office is selected by the council. 
The monarchy is thus elective, though only mesj 
of a cert-ain blood-descent are qualified for electioia 
The council of elders, besides electing a kinra 
controls his actions, and, should ho show any diM 
position to make himself independent of it, invitei- 
lum to "go to sleep," by sending him a present of 
MrTote' eggs. The king is never allowed to see 
ft^Kfumprs without some members of the council 
^^MT present, and all his actions are close' " 
tgmtl^eil. The king and the councH make W 
i^bI. tikcide all ordinary affairs, but, should ai 
iwtfott of ■vital importance to the nation ai 

SYSTEM OP GOVERNMENT. 1G5 

the whole people is assembled for its discussion 
aad settlement ; and every individual, regardless of 
position, is allowed to express his opinion. Tho 
emblem of royalty is a conical head-dress of beads, 
from which hang long strings of beads, so arranged 
as to conceal the face of the wearer. An epithet 
applied to kings is alaiye, " Owner of the World." 

The election of a king is preceded by a curious 
ceremony. When the council has selected the 
individual who is to succeed to the throne, the 
chiefs and elders proceed to his house on the day 
fixed for the coronation, seize him suddenly, and 
forcibly convey him to the palace, where they flog 
him vigorously with light whips. If he should cry 
out during the punishment, or show any signs of 
pain, he is at once rejected as unworthy, and the 
council makes a new choice ; but if he bear himself 
bravely, without flinching, he is forthwith crowned. 
This ordeal appears to bo designed tu test the 
candidate's capacity for endurance, and his powers 
of self-restraint and concealment of thought. An 
exactly similar practice is found among the Timnis 
of Sierra Leone, who, on the day of election, scoff 
at and beat the new king while dragging him from 
his own house to the residence of his predecessor; 
where, if he has withstood the ordeal, the royal 
ornaments are put on him. 

The chief officers of state are the Bashomn, or 
prime minister, the chief adviser of the king, who 
has the title of Einswa (Eni-mo-ewa), "He who 
knows the mind ; " and the Balogun {Oha-ni-oguii), 
or " Chief of the Army." The miHtary officer 

166 THE YORUnASI'EAKiyG PEOPLES. 

second in command, is styled the Serilei. Next to 
these high ofiBcials come the civil governors of 
towns (Hale*), each of wliom exercises rule in his 
own domain. The Bales of towns correspond to 
the chiefs of districts among the Tshi tribes, and, 
as in their case, the king of the nation is the 
Bale of his own capital. Under the Bales of 
towns are the Bales of town-quarters and villages, 
and under these again are the Bales of households. 

The Bale of a household is responsible for the 
preservation of order in the group of dwellings 
occupied by his family and dependents. He settles 
all minor disputes between those under his control, 
but if the matter involves the subordinates of another 
household-i/a/e, it is taken before the Bale of the 
town-quarter, who is responsible for peace and order 
within that area. If it be an ordinary " palaver," 
this functionary settles it, but if it be serious he must 
refer it to the Bale of the iovm. Unless the affair 
concerns another district also, or is of national im- 
portance, it need go no further, for in his own 
domain the tov/n-Bale is almost independent. Persons 
subject to a Bale address him as Baha, " Father," or 
" Master," ami he in turn calls them " my children." 

In every town there is, besides the Bale, an lyalode 
(/i/fi- II I -<»(/(') 1 " Mistress of the street," to whom all 
disimt^'s between women are braught in the first- 
instance, only those which she is unable to deal with 
being referred to the Bale. The lyalode has aa 
coadiutors an Oton-iyalodn (right-hand lyalode) and 
EH Onii'iynhdf (left-hand lyalode). 

• UnW — Obt ile, literally, " chief of t].c Louse, or lowii." 

Si'STEM OF GOVERNSfENT. 167 

Members of council and town-Bales are Oloria, 
*' chiefs," and form the aristocracy. Every Olori has 
in his service certain raen termed Oiises, who act as 
messengers, heralds, bailiffs, and police, and, at a 
pinch, as executioners. A king's (hise is called an 
Ilari, whence the proverb, " As no subject, however 
rich, may have an Ilari, so it is not every man who 
may own a palace." 

Respect to kings and chiefs is shown by prostration, 
followed by rising and clapping the hands. Before 
entering the presence of a king or chief, the cloth 
is removed from the shoulder, over which it is usually 
worn, and wrapped round the waist. When a new 
title is conferred on a man a leaf of the akoko-tree ia 
given to the recipient as a sign of honour. All 
officers of state, members of council, and town-Sales 
have Elcejis, "seconds," who assist in the management 
of affairs and rule in the absence of their principals. 
The king also has an Ekeji, and it ia he who is usually 
Belected to succeed him. 

The foregoing applies generally to all the Yoruba 
tribes, but there are a few customs special to certain 
kingdoms, which it may be as well to note. 

In Yoruba proper the king ia styled the Alafin, 
and his eldest son, called the Aremo {Arc-omino, eldest 
child), governs conjointly with him. Under an old 
custom, the Aremo was obliged to commit suicide 
when the Alafin died ; and the new king, who must be 
the descendant of one who had worn the crown, was 
chosen from another branch of the royal family. 
This custom was set at defiance by Adelu, who was 
the Aremo when his father died in I860, and it was 

I 

168 THE YOIWDA-iiPKAKlXG I'EOVLES. ■ 

in consequence of this that the people o£ IjayM 
rebelled. The custom has not since been observedB 
The tail of a white-bellied rat, called Afe-hnojo (Hd| 
of kuowledgc), is used by the Alafiii as the symbol o9 
royalty, and when he walks abroad he holds it to his 

lips. 

In Yoruba the office of Bashoriiu is hereditary in 
one family, but the Ahifin, in council, selects the 
member to fill it. He is obliged by law to reside in 
Oyo, the capital. Next in rank to the Bashoriin is 
the Are-Onakal-anfo, " First of the AVar-CaptainSj" 
who can be selected from any family and live where 
he pleases. The council consists of twenty-two 
members, and is called Isokan (agreemeutj concord, 
or unanimity); the leader of the council is styled thf 
Onasokan, " Channel to the Concord." 

The Uaris are the confidential advisers of 
Alafiii, and are of either sex, the females being chosa 
from among his wives. Ilaris, whether male 
female, shave the head, leaving a small tuft, or tail, 
the crown. In addition to these, the Alafin hai 
number of court-officials termed Safin, or Ihafin, 
word which seems to mean " Inmates of the Palace.'J 
Six of them, called the Iwefa (Lce-e/a) " the 
papers," are chamberlains, the remainder are spies, o 
intelligence-officers, who keep the Ahfin informed i 
everything that takes place. The chief chamberlai 
is styled the Ona^iwefa, and the two next in rank, the 
right-hand, and the left-hand. The Tetu is a kind of 
sheriff's officer, who arrests for debt. "When making^H 
an arrest it is essential that he should pronoimce 
word ogusa, "a shield." The Oloijho is the keepei 

SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT. 169 

the ancient traditions, which he teaches to 
his pupils, and on certain occasions recites in 
public. 

According to court etiquette, no word having more 
than one distinct meaning — and such words are very 
numerous in the Yoruba language — may be used when 
addressing the Alajin, if one of its meanings, no matter 
how inapplicable to the subject in hand, be unbecon> 
ing. At audiences the speaker addresses a eunuch, 
who repeats the words to the chief female llari, and 
she conveys what is said to the Alajin. No native 
may appear before the Alafin in any costume other 
than an ordinary native cloth, and the Alafin always 
speaks of his subjects as his " slaves." 

Among the Egbas the Alahe of Abeokuta is nomi- 
nally the ruler of the whole collection of villages 
within the walls ; but each village or township has its 
own Bale, who is virtually independent, and except in 
times of national danger or emergency the Alahe is 
really only the Bah of his own township. The Bales 
of all the townships, except Ake, are elected by their 
own subjects, but the Bale of Ake, who becomes the 
Alahe, is elected by the council, and the election must 
be confirmed by all the other Bales of townships. 
The Baxltorun is here the chief of the council, and 
there is an official called the Ahpeiia, whose duty it is 
to summon the council together. In Abeokuta the 
Ogbonis are the real rulei's. 

Ibadan. The Bale of the town of Ibadan exercises 
the kingly office, but next to him, and almost equal in 
rank and power, is the Balogun, who sits with the 
to judge important cases. Two members of 

council, called tlae right-hand and the left-hand Bale, 
are the Bale's chief advisers. 

Jebu. The Council of the Avujale is called the 
eketa-odi (? third rampart), and his confidential ad- 
viser the Ayunr'i (" One who brings to light "). Thft 
Awvjale is surrounded by a great deal of mystery. 
Until recently his face might not be seen, even by hiS' 
own subjects, and if circumstances obliged him to. 
communicate with them, he did so through a screen 
which concealed him from view. Now, though his 
face may be seen, it is usual to conceal his body ; and 
at audiences a cloth is held before him so as to hide> 
him from tho neck downwards, and is raised so as toi' 
cover him altogether whenever he coughs, sneezes,! 
expectorates, or takes snuff. The face is partially 
concealed by the conical cap with hanging strings of' 
beads. It is death for anyone, except members off 
the court, to sit or stand behind the Awujale. Tho* 
umbrella is the symbol of sovereignty in Jebu, and il 
is a capital offence for a subject to use one. 

Among all the tribes the revenues of the kings, chiefs,' 
and bales of towns are derived from tribute paid by the' 
dependent villages, and from duties levied upon goods 
and native productions brought into the towns. These 
duties are collected by officers called Oni-lodes, and 
aro levied at custom-houses {bode) at the gates ot 
towns, and also on the roads at the frontiers. The 
names of two frontier towns of the ancient kingdom 
of Yoruba, where duties used to be paid, but which 
have long since been destroyed, are still preserved in 
the proverbial saying, " Let the marvel stop at Ibese 
and not proceed to Ijanna." There is no iised tariff. 

SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT. 171 

and traders are largely at the mercy of the Oni-bodes, 
whose cupidity is only kept within reasonable limits 
through fear of complaint being made to the Bale of 
the town. A considerable proportion of the duties 
levied, nearly always in kind, sticks to their fingers. 

Every Bale who adjudicates upon a case receives a 
hearing-fee, and both plaintiff and defendant usually 
see him in private before the case comes on, and seek 
to influence his decision by presents. These bribes, 
however, do not really produce much effect, for every 
case is tried in public, and no manifest injustice, or 
verdict given against the weight of evidence, would 
be allowed to pass unobjected to by the people, who 
would resent it in their own future interests. In 
cases in which the evidence for and against is nicely 
balanced, the decision is no doubt affected by the 
longest purse. 

Sticks of office are used by all men in authority, 
and are received with the same ceremony and respect 
as among the Ewe tribes.* A royal stick-bearer is 
called an Olokpaja'oba, " Bearer of the king's stick." 
The Ogbonis have their own staff, or stick, of a special 
pattern, called edan. 

Public notices are proclaimed by a public crier, or 
herald, styled an Alcedti (ke ode, to exclaim in the 
street), who prefaces his announcement by cries of 
" Atoto-o ! AtotO'O .' " " Noise I noise ! " 

In time of war, all the men capable of bearing 
arms take the field under the military chiefs. They 
are accompanied by a number of women, who cook 

tfood and carry the baggage, so that tlie size of a 
* " E*e-Spealiiiig Peoples," pp. 178 to 181. 

172 THE YOBUBA-SPEAiaNQ PEOPLES. 

war-camp affords no fair indication o£ the number of 
combatants it contains. As the Yoruba tribes did not 
come into commnnication with Europeans till about 
1815, when the export slave-trade from Lagos and 
Badagry commenced, they have not been supplied 
with muskets for so long a period as the Tshi, Ga, 
and Ewe tribes, who have been accustomed to use 
firearms for such a length of time that all other kinds 
of weapons, except knives and swords, have long 
disappeared. Muskets do not seem to have come 
into common use among the Yoruba tribes until after 
1850, and their old weapons are not quite displaced 
even yet. They used bows, with strings of raw hide, 
and cross-bows {ahatanpo) ; and besides the arrows 
carried by each man in a quiver, there was a reserve 
of these missiles contained in a large receptacle called 
an adfi-ijun-ile-aj)o, and which was placed on the 
ground to supply the archers during a battle. Bow- 
men used an iron guard for the fingers, styled ifarun 
{fa-ormi : "pull bow"), and a leather guard (yas«n) 
was worn on the left arm to protect it from the 
bowstring. Poisoned arrows seem to have been 
commonly used. One of the ingredients of the poison 
was the leaf of a shrub called en-e-ina {ewe, leaf, iwa, 
fire), " fire-plant," and so named because the hairs 
with which the leaf is covered raise blisters on the 
skin. Another poison is said to have been obtained 
by pounding up the large red ants. 

Before the introduction of firearms an army was 
ordinarily divided into cavalry (elesin), archers (olofa, 
or tafatafa), and foot-soldiera (elese). Notwith- 
standing the enormous numbers of cavalry mentioned 

SYSTHM OF GOrEllNMBNT. 

by Dalzel, the Yonibas do not seem ever to have had 
any considerable force of liorsemen, and horses, which 
are not very common, are usually monopolised by 
men of rank. The bulk of the army was composed 
of foot-Boldiers, who carried spears, swords, or axes, 
and shields. Another infantry weapon was called 
gamu-gamv, and was something like an old-fashioned 
halberd. Shirts of mail and breast-plates were some- 
times seen, and appear to have been obtained from 
the natives of the Western Soudan. Each contingent 
fought under its own Kakanfo (captain), and the 
Balofjun was the Are-kahanfo, or generalissimo. Under 
each Kalcanfo, or leader of a local contingent, were 
three inferior officers, styled Are alasa, Otln alasa, and 
Osin alasa, the chief, right-hand, and left-hand alasa. 
In battle the main bodies oppose each other at a 
distance of half-a-milo or a mile, and are covered by 
detachments from the various contingents. These 
detachments skirmish, keeping at the extreme range 
of their muskets, and hold their ground without ad- 
vancing, till their ammunition is exhausted, when 
they retire for more. The skirmishers are never re- 
inforced from the main body, and ordinarily the day 
passes without any decisive result. Sometimes, how- 
ever, when the skirmishers of one army retire to 
replenish their ammunition, the opposing army ad- 
vances, in which case the other endeavours to draw 
it into an ambuscade, which manoeuvre, if successful, 
is supposed to be decisive. There is no general plan 
of action ; each contingent acts more or less indepen- 
dently, and the nominal commander of the army rarely 
knows how many men he has under his command. 

(1) Laws belatixg to Kisship and Inheeitancb." 

We find a great change from the customs of the 
other tribal groups of this family of nations, in the 
Yoruba manner of tracing descent and blood-rela- 
tionship; descent and consanguinity being no longer 
reckoned exclusively in the female line, with succes- 
sion to chiefdom, office, and property from brother to 
brother, and then to sister's son ; but in the male line, 
as 5ir as succession to dignities is concerned, and on 
both sides of the house for blood-descent. The 
% fiunily — using the word family as meaning a 
i piraons who are united by ties of blood — is 
I different organisation to that which we 
iVnstang- among the Tsbi and Ewe tribes, where 
lolely of persons who are connected 
p tM«. and in which, as two persons of the 
r not marry, the father is never related 
t k^ children, and is not considered as be- 
. tJirf fwnily. In the Tsbi and EVve tribes 
f I* the tost of blood-relationship, and as 
i thfi laws of blood-descont, it ensues 
(Hvr goes out of the clan ; for, with

descent in the female line, a family is only a small 
circle of persons, all of whom bear the same clan- 
name, within the larger circle of the clan itself. 

Among the Yoruba tribes the blood -tie between 
father and child has been recognised, and the result 
of this recognition has been the inevitable downfall 
of the clan-system, which is only possible so long as 
descent is traced solely on one side of the house, as 
may be readily shown. Since two persons of the 
same clan-name may, under the clan-system, never 
marry, it follows that husband and wife must be of 
different clans. Let us say that one is a Dog and the 
other a Leopard. The clan-name is extended to all 
who are of the same blood ; therefore, directly the 
blood-relationship between father and child comes to 
be acknowledged, the children of such a pair as we 
have supposed, instead of being, as heretofore, simply 
Leopards, would be Dog-Leopards, and would belong to 
two clans. ' They in their turn might marry with 
persons similarly belonging to two clans, say Cat- 
Snakes, and the offsprings of these unions would 
belong to four clans. The clan-system thus becomes 
altogether unworkable, because, as the number of 
clans is limited and cannot be added to, if the clan 
name still remained the test of blood-relationship and 
a bar to marriage, the result in a few generations 
would be that no marriages would be possible. Con- 
sequently the clan-name ceases to be the test of con- 
sanguinity, kinship is traced in some other way, and 
the clan-system disappears ; or, as appears to have 
been occasionally the case, descent is boldly trans- 
ferred into the male line, and marriage in the father's 

ITti THE YOUrBA-SPEAKlKO PEOPLES. 

clftn is prohibited, that of the mother being ignored. 
The Yornbas have adopted what appears to have been 
the usunl course, and blood-relationship is now traced 
both on the father's and on the mother's side, as far 
as it can be remembered, and marriage within the 
known circle of consanguinity is forbidden. 

"Wlien we consider the extraordinary vitality the 
BVBtem of descents through mothers possesses, so long 
■8 it is undisturbed by foreign influence, it seems 
probable that the acknowledgment of a father's blood- 
relationship to his children was brought about by the 
intercourse of the northern Yorubas with the Moham- 
mwian tribes of the interior. That the Yorubas 
fonncrly had the system of female descents is shown 
^Qf ui ancient proverb, which says, "The csuo (gazelle), 
iirikKiining relationship with the ehilu (a large ante- 
|JH(I»), says his mother was the daughter of an ehulu." 
W Ifce male system of descents had been in vogue 
%^BMl lliis proverb was invented, the esuo would have 
ftiN* Made to say that his father was the son of an 
<4*iApk Moreover, in spite of the legal succession from 
teJihrtr to jsons, children by different mothers, but the 
4•Mi^ l^hor, are by many natives still scarcely con- 
^ j ajtewl tniu blood -relations. 

)K M. MO doubt in consequence of the change from 

^•tk«k;^ in tlio female line to kinship on both sides of 

«tl!i» lb»w* that the family has become, to a certain 

' ••■.ti'gratcd. On the Gold Coast, where the 

v is the only one known, the family is 

■ iv,<iHmsible for the crimes or injuries to 

iHiiwrt* ''*' ^'l^*^H'^ty committed by any of its mem- 

l^o-L mvX v*wh member ia liable for a proportion of 

LAWS JSIi CrSTOMS. 177 

the compensation to be paid. Similarly, each member 
of the family is entitled to a share of the compensation 
received for injury to the person or property of one of 
the members. The head of the family can, if the 
necessity should arise, pawn, and in some cases sell, 
a junior member ; while, on the other hand, the junior 
members have a right to be fed and clothed by the 
head of the family. Among the Yoruba tribes there 
is no collective responsibility in a family, except that 
parents are responsible for crimes committed by their 
children ; the head of the family cannot pawn the 
younger members, and the latter cannot claim, as a 
matter of right, to be supported by him. 

When a man dies his sons divide all his property 
between them. The daughters have no inheritance 
in their father's bouse, but they divide between them 
the property of their mother, for here, as with the 
Tshi, Ga, and Ewe tribes, the property of a wife is 
always separate and distinct from that of her hus- 
band. If a man have no sons bis property falls to 
his brothers, or, if he have no brothers, to his sisters. 
From these laws of inheritance there is no departure, 
and a man cannot disinherit a legal heii-. A man can, 
within certain limits, give away property during his 
lifetime, provided it is purely pei'sonal, and not family 
property ; but he cannot make a will, ur any arrange- 
ment for its disposal after his death. Succession to 
property entails the obligation of defraying the debts 
of the deceased. 

The terms used to express relationship are very 
indefinite, and can he, and are, used not only to rela- 
tions, bvit even to strangers, as terms of address. 

178 THK yoBCBSSPeAKnttJ PBOPLSS, 

fSai>a, father, i^ used not odIt to the actual father, 
)}iit to iincIeH on both sides of the hoiise, and to men 
to whom it ifl desired to show respect, provided that 
tlioy art) of an age which would admit of their being 
fathers to the Hpeaker. Lja, mother, is also used to 
women of the generation nest above the speaker, 
wlieii it in desired to show respect. Ara is a term 
UNod U} rolationi! of the same nge as the speaker, and 
iM upi)lio(I to brothers, sisters, and male and female 
coiiniiiH. It in of no gender, and to express brother 
find iniilo cousin, or sister and female cousin, it is 
tuiuoHHiiry to add okonri, man or male, or, ofciVi, woman, 
or foinulo. Utiually the relative age of the speaker 
t^j tlio porBon addressed is expressed bj" the word 
t'yhim, elder, senior, or ahuro, younger. Thus, f'jbon 
ara okoti-ri would mean an elder brother or male 
oouiin, properly, an elder male relative of the same 
Kdlliiriitiou as the speaker. Omo, child, which also 
hiiN no gender, and requires the qualifying words 
(ikimri or ohiri to be placed after it when exactitude is 
tiooimHary, iH iwcd to relations of the generation next 
bulow tliu Mpnakcr, that is to say, to sons, daughters, 
nonhewN, nioccH, and children of cousins. It is also 
Uliud OB ft turm of addrexs to domestic slaves. Grand- 
father, haha-h {hilja-ida, great-father) is used to grand- 
fathers and great-uncles, and iija-la {iya-nla, great- 
njolliwl to mothers and great-aunts. Grandchild is 
(rtiKM/ww (child-child), or omo-loju (front-child). 

The ioreiroing are the terms commonly used. Of 
BouTH' ii ifc quite possible to construct compound 
i exactly the degree of relationship, 
if required, say, " father's sister," in- 

^gtak «<: eiui> ' 

^ 

LAWS AND CUSTOMS. 179 

stead of " aunt," or " father's brother's son," instead 
of " cousin " ; but the Yorubas do not make use of 
such terms any more than we do. Thus ** aunt" could 
be expressed by ara-biri tl haha^ or ara-hiri ti iya^ 
" relative of same age, female, of the father," or 
" relative of same age, female, of the mother," but 
lya is always used instead. 

It will thus be seen that the terms used to express 
relationships are applied to five groups or classes : — 

(1) The grade of the speaker's gi*and-parents. 

(2) The grade of the speaker's parents. 

(3) The grade of the speaker. 

(4) The grade of the speaker's children. 

(6) The grade of the speaker's grand-children. 

This system is what the late Mr. Morgan termed 
the classificatory system of relationships, and, on the 
assumption that the terms used were from their very 
inception devised to express actual degrees of blood- 
relationship, he endeavoured to show that the human 
family had passed through regular stages of peculiar 
types of marriage.* But it appears certain that 
these terms were originally terms of address to persons 
of different grades, being probably designed to show 
the relative positions of the individuals composing 
the group or community, and had nothing whatever 
to do with consanguinity. As the Yorubas trace 
descent on both sides of the house, they might, 
assuming that the terms did imply blood-relationship, 
very properly use the term for a male of the genera- 
tion next above the speaker, either to the father's 

• " The Systems of Consanguinity and Affinity of the Human 
Family" (Washington, U.S. of America, 1871). 

n2 

ISK) TlfF YORUBA-SPEAKING PEOPLES. 

lirotlicr or to tho luother'a brother, just as we 
ourselves say " uncle " ; but the Tshi and Ga tribes, 
who Iraco doscGiit solely through the mother, equally 
have this class! fi cat ory system, and also use one and 
tho same term to relations on the father's side or on 
the mother's. That is to say, these tribes use these 
terms indifferently to blood-relations and to persona 
who, according to their system of consanguinity, 
are not reliitions at all ; and the conclusion is that 
the terms of tlie classiflcatory system do not primarily 
imply consanguinity, whatever they may come to 
mean afterwards. 

Tho lack of precision in the terms used by the 
Yonibas to express relationships would at first sight 
seem to show that they, and other races who follow 
the classificatory system, do not lay much streas upon 
blootl-relationship, the more especially as they use 
tho same terms both to co7isanguiiiei and to persons 
who are not akin ; but the fact appears to be that the 
classificatory system is at first always combined with 
the clan-system, and as the clan-name is the test 
trf ciMisanguinity, precision in terms of aildress is not 
iKtUly of much moment. After the clan-system breaks 
^«wu« »iul the clan-name ceases to bo the test, some 
v4^ inotJo of denoting blood-relat ion ship becomes 
^^^^'y^w*ry : iind it seems probable that it is under the 
ii^WW t>f these new circvmistances that the terms 
KwWfcwW upplicd to whole grades are narrowed in 
tihyti^ *)>(»Ucntion to the household circle, and new 
i|)»»Wty*Vvv UM'ms, such as uncle, nephew, and cousin, 
t^V tUVy^ttr^t to define the remoter degrees of con- 
iliyfi^juiiul^v . Ill this connection we may note that 

LAWS AND rrSTOMS. ISl 

among the younger generations of tlie Yorubas the 
word egbon, which reallj' only means "elder," is 
rapidly coming into use as a term oE address to the 
father's brother and the mother's brother, and so is 
acquiring the meaning of " uncle " ; but the old 
people still cling to the classificatory term haba. 

Investigation shows that the Yoruba terms used 
to express " father " and " mother " have no reference 
to fatherhood or motherhood. Baba now means lord, 
master, great personage, or father. It appears to 
be derived from a root having the meanings of 
violence, strength, and power, and so, in the classifi- 
catory system, might well be applied to the grade of 
men who would be the hunters and warriors of the 
community, Oba, king, lord, or master, is from 
the same root. In Ewe we found that the word fofo 
(father) meant " maintainer," a designation which 
also might well be applied to the men who defended 
the group from foes and provided the food. 

lya means mistress, lady^ or mother, or any vessel 
used to contain food, such as as an earthen pot, basin, 
or calabash. It is derived from a root meaning 
primarily to feed, whence to nourish, cherish, and 
be glad, hja would thus mean " the feeder," and, 
in a community, would equally apply to young 
women, who were mothers suckling their children, 
and to those who were not, since it is the business 
of the young women to prepare the food. Similarly 
we found in Ewe that da, or liada, mother, was 
derived from da, to cook. Am appears to mean 
, "one of the same kind," hence "companion, co- 
labitant," &c, Omo, child, is literally " suckling," 

1S2 TUB YOBUBA-SPEAKINC. PEOPLES. 

and conies from mo, or mn, to drink, suck, 

omo, or omv, breast, udder. 

(2) Mareiaue Laws and Customs. 

Wives are married by purchase, the amount "j 
for a bride varying with the rank of the father 
also with that of the husband, for a man of we 
and position is expected to give more for a ■' 
than one lower in the social scale. The poo 
always pay a small sum for their wives, so ai 
give the union the title of a marriage, and disting 
it from concubinage. The amount paid for a ' 
is regarded as a compensation to her parents 
the loss of her services in the household, and 
transaction is not in any sense the purchase f 
chattel. 

By marriage a man acquires the services of 
wife in domestic affairs and an exclusive righ 
her embraces. That is, she may not have interco 
■with other men without his knowledge and cons 
but there is no objection to liis waiving his r 
in favour of some other person, and men somet 
lend their wives to their guests or friends, the 
more frequently their concubines, for in a house 
there are both wives and concubines, the It 
usually being slaves. Each wife has her own ht 
situated in the " compound " of the husband, 
her own slaves and dependants. The wife 
married is the liead wife, and is charged with 

leservation of order among the women. Sb 

LAWS AKJi CUSTOMS. 18.1 

styled Iijale {hja He), "Mistress of the house." 
The junior wives are called lyaico [lya owo), " Trade- 
wives," or " Wives of commerce," probably because 
they sell in the markets. 

Girls of the better classes are almost always 
betrothed when mere children, frequently when 
infants, the husband hi fiitnro being sometimes a 
grown man and sometimes a boy. Betrothal con- 
fers upon the male all the rights of marriage 
except consummation, which takes place shortly 
after the girl arrives at puberty. Since the early 
age of betrothal makes ante-betrothal unchastity a 
physical impossibility, the absence of the primitlse 
when the marriage is consummated proves that the 
girl has been unchaste after betrothal, that is, after 
the husband in- future had acquired an exclusive right 
to her person, and consequently he has a right to 
repudiate her. In such a case he may dismiss her, 
sending a few broken cowries to her mother, and the 
gfirl's family must return the amount paid for her, 
and the value of all presents made ; but it is more 
usual to effect some compromise. 

In this custom of infant or child-betrothals we 
probably find the key to that curious regard for 
ante-nuptial chastity found not only among the 
tribes of the Gold and Slave Coasts, but also 
among many other uncivilised peoples in different 
parts of the world ; and which certainly cannot be 
attributed to any feeling of delicacy, since husbands 
lend their wives without the least compunction, and 
often merely as a sign of friendliness. lu West 
Africa virginity in a bride is not valued jier se, but 

134 THE TOBUBA-SPEAKIXG FKOPIES. 

because it is a proof that the betrothed has not in- 
fringed the exclusive marital privileges of the husband 
IN /ttluro : and non-virginity in a bride is only a 
valid ground for repudiation when the girl has been 
betrothed at a tender age, for unbetrothed girls can 
bestow their favours upon whom they please. Thus, 
no man who marries a girl without early betrothal 
feels aggrieved if she should prove not to be a virgin, 
for until she is married or betrothed she is perfectly 
free, and mistress of her own actions. 

Girls of the lower classes, who are seldom betrothed, 
can lead any life they choose without incurring re- 
proach, and without affecting their future prospects 
of marriage ; but girls of tlie upper classes, who are 
khnost always betrothed, must i)e chaste. If, then, 
the great majority of girls were betrothed in child- 
hood, it may readily be conceived that a notion might 
ho formed that a bride ought to be a virgin, and be 
made of general application quite independent of 
betrothals. At present, the foeling of annoyance, 
which a Yoruba bridegroom experiences when he finds 
Uiat his bride has been unchaste, is not due to jealousy 
or sentiment, but to a sense of injury, because his 
rights acijuired by betrothal have been trespassed 
upon; but no doubt, in course of time, the sentimental 
jnievance would be produced. Whether this feeling 
ercr extends to the lowest classes is uncertain, but at 
idSffWDts it has scarcely yet done so in Europe. 

i pwua deal of evidence might be adduced to show 
Agt thf PBi*>m of child-betrotlial leads to virginity 
4-rm- .»xneinrf io * bride, and its absence being 
— «^i« «■ * V^ ground for repudiation. In New 

■ta 

LAWS AND CUSTOMS. 185 

Zealand, girls were occasionally betrothed in infancy, 
and in that case had to be chaste ; but girls not 
betrothed in childhood were allowed, on growing up, 
to bestow their favours on whom they pleased.* In 
Fiji and Samoa it appears that only the daughters of 
chiefs were expected to be virgins when married, and 
it was only the daughters of chiefs who were be- 
trothed early in life.f The Mosquito Indians betroth 
children, and if, when the marriage takes place, the 
girl is not a virgin, the match is broken off. Similar 
evidence is forthcoming in regard to the Bagas, Fulas, 
Timnis, and Fans, in Africa, the Kirghese and Ouz- 
beks, in Asia, and many others. 

Parents cannot force a daughter to marry a suitor 
who is distasteful to her, but they can prevent a girl 
from marrying a man of whom they do not approve, 
and if she should misbehave with him they can shut 
her up and chastise her. If, however, she runs off 
with him, they usually take no further trouble. Most 
girls have lovers in secret. 

Children are usually suckled for three years, and 
during the period of lactation the wife must not 
cohabit with her husband. 

When a man dies his wives and concubines are 
divided among his sons, whose wives and concubines 
they then become ; but no son is allowed to take his 
own mother. Formerly the Levirate was in force, 
and when an elder brother died the brother next in 

• Surgeon-Major Thompson, " Story of New Zealand/' pp. 176, 

177. 
t Wilkes, •' U.S. Exploring Expedition," pp. 92 and 210. 

order of age married the ij/ale, or head wife, and so 
in succosBion from brother to brother. There was no 
obligation to marry the subordinate wives of a de- 
ceased elder brother, and they usually devolved upon 
the legal heirs. If the deceased were childless, the 
son first bom of the new union of the younger brother 
with the widow was named after the deceased, and 
was considered to fill the place of the son ; he did 
not, however, as among the Jews, succeed to the pro- 
perty to the exclusion of the Levir— his inheritanca 
]ay solely in the house of his actual father. At the. 
present time a widow-iyalc is not obliged to marry 
her deceased hushand'a brother, but she does not, on 
the other hand, become the wife of one of the hus- 
band's sons, as do the subordinate wives. Sie usually 
goes to live with the relatives of her late husband; 
and, should she contract a second marriage with some 
man other than her brother-in-law, the second hus- 
band has to repay to the relatives of the first the 
amount that the latter paid for his wife. 

Adultery can only be committed with a married 
woman. Adultery in a wife is punishable by death 
or divorce, but as a rule the injured husband beate 
his erring wife, and recovers damages (oji) from the 
adulterer. In extreme cases, where the husband ia 
a man of rank, and discovers the couple in the fact, 
they are sometimes both put to death. 

If a husband should divorce his wife for adultery 
he can claim the restitution of the money he paid for 
her, but not if he sends her away for any other cause. 
When a wife is divorced or put away, no mailer for 
what caiise, the husband retains any children she 

LAWS -l.VD CPSTO^f.'^. 187 

may have borne hira ; hnt if a child be too young to 
leave the mother, it doea not come to the father till 
ten or twelve years of age. We see here a great 
change from the customs of the Tshi tribes, among 
whom, under every circnmstance of divorce or sepa- 
ration, the mother retains her children, though she 
is liable to her husband for a certain sum to compen- 
sate hira for what he has paid for their maintenance. 
There, children belonged exclusively to the mothisr, 
but here they belong to the father, and the innova- 
tion is undoubtedly due to tlie alteration in the 
system of descents. 

"When a husband systematically neglects his wife 
and refuses to perform his marital duties, she can call 
upon her family to assemble and hold a palaver ; 
■when, if the husband promises to amend his ways, he 
is given an opportunity of retrieving his character. 
If, after all, there is no improvement, or if he refuses 
to treat his wife properly, slie ia then at liberty to 
leave him, and sometimes, if he be of inferior rant, 
the indignant family tie him up and flog him. 

The daughters of kings or chiefs can live with or 
marry whom they please, and change their partners 
as often as they please. Women of the royal blood 
of Ashanti and Uahomi have or had the same liberty, 
which is perhaps a survival from a former sexual 
freedom once enjoyed by all women, dating, if 
McLennan's theory be correct, from the time when 
the position and influence of women was enhanced by 
the scarcity of the individual, but now only lingering 
case of women in the highest rank, who would 
$ just those most likely to retain the privilege longest. 

188 THE YORi'BA-SPEAKlNG PEOPLES. 

Marriage is forbidden in the same blood ; and, as 
descent is traced on both sides of the house, it is con- 
sequently forbidden both in the father's and mother's 
families, as far as relationship can be traced. This, 
however, is not far, as there is no longer the clan- 
name, wliicb, as long as descent was traced on only 
one side of the house, remained the test of kinship to 
perpetuity, and a people who do not write have no 
means of recording genealogies. As a rule relation- 
ship does not seem to be traced further than second- 
cousins, and the prohibitive degrees of marriage are 
for a man, mother, aunt, sister, daughter, niece, 
cousin, and second-cousin. In consequence of descent 
being traced on both sides, half-brother cannot 'marry 
half-sister; but on the Gold Coast such marriages are 
permitted, provided the pair have not the same mother. 
Relationship by affinity has not yet been invented, 
and a man may marry two or more sisters, aunt, and 
niece, and even mother and daughter, but tlie last 
unions do not often occur. 

(3) Land Laws. 

t 

L 

Land belongs to the community collectively, and is 
vested in the chief, who distributes it amongst 
households and families as required. No man can 
be dispossessed of land once allotted to him, and the 
usufruct descends to his children, but the land cannot 
be sold. The land being more than sufficient for all 
requirements, this communal system presents no 
difficultieSj as practically everybody can have as much 

LAWS AXD CUSTOMS. 

I he wishes to cultivate. When land goes out of 
cultivation, and is allowed to be overgrown with bush 
or forest, it reverts to the corammiity. 

On the Gold Coast private property in land is not 
recognised, and the sale or purchase of land is un- 
known, except wlien Europeans or Anglicised natives 
desire to acquire landed property, in which case 
the consent of the community as a whole to the 
transaction has to be obtained. Among the Yoruba 
tribes, however, the notion that land, and not merely 
its usufruct, may be the property of the individual, 
instead of the community, is beginning to appear, 
for a chief can sell or give away land. No one but a 
chief can sell land J it is one of the prerogatives of 
chieftainship ; but the land sold or given away must 
be unoccupied waste-land, the usufruct of which has 
not been yielded to any member of the community. 

When, under this custom, land is given, the owner- 
ship is not complete, for though the individual or 
family which receives it can retain it and use it for 
ever, it cannot be disposed of to any third party. 
Land acquired by purchase becomes the absolute 
property of the purchaser. The purchase of land 
does not, however, carry with it the ownership of 
anything on the land, such as trees, crops, or housesj 
which still remain the property of the vendor, unless 
sold separately. Houses can only be sold by per- 
mission of the king or chief, and, as they are family 
property, the consent of the whole family has to be 
obtained to the transaction. 

TITE YORUBA-SPEAKING PEOPLES. 

(4) Laws of Debt. 

A man can be imprisoned for debt, and in every 
town of importance there is a debtor's prison (iZe- 
emu, house of seizure), in whicli the Bale confines 
a debtor tO] the debt ia discharged. There is also a 
custom similar to our putting a man in possession, 
n bailiff's officer, called ogo, being placed in the 
debtor's house to enforce payment. 

A man who causes the ordinary funeral-rites to be 
performed over another, thereby becomes responsible 
for all the debts of the deceased, unless he first 
obtains permission from the creditors. The creditors 
nearly always consent upon the relations becoming 
coUoctivoly responsible for the discharge of the debt; 
but if they refuse permission, and no one is willing 
to accept the responsibility, the corpse is placed on a 
raised platform of wattles outside the town, and 
remams there till the debt is paid. This seldom 
occurs, except in the case of a stranger, as the 
omission to bury reflects the greatest disgrace upon 
tbe family concerned. 

A man is responsible for any debts his wives may 
«iBti*ct, but not for those contracted by his children. 

(5) Ceiminal L.iws. 

t (tooTO B* i»ot sufficient evidence to establish 
A'411 *ccuse<,!, he has to prove his innocence by 
" thttt is, he is subjected to an ordeal, 

LAH'S AND CUSTOMS. 101 

or, in other words, human means having failed, the bur- 
den of a decision is thrown upon the gods. The draught, 
which is nearly always a decoction of twfwm-bark, is 
prepared by a priest, who thus has it in his power to 
make it hannless or effective. It is a powerful poison, 
and if not at once rejected by the stomach, as often 
happens, causes death, in which case the orisha is 
considered to have declared his guilt by slaying him. 
A guilty man does not dare fo " drink orisha," but 
the innocent will submit to the ordeal without fear, 
and, indeed, frequently demand it in order to prove 
their innocence, whence it follows that it is the 
guiltless who ordinarily perish. 

As a rule, murder, arson, and treason are punished 
with death. A first offence of theft is punished by 
flogging and a fine, a second by mutilation, and a 
third by death. When, however, cattle or sheep- 
stealing, becomes prevalent, a detected thief is put to 
death, as a warning to others. In such a case, the 
criminal, instead of being executed by the Ogboni in 
secret, is decapitated on Ogun's stool, by the sword- 
bearers of the chiefs, in some public place. Criminals 
who cannot pay their fines are flogged with the 
kpashan, a formidable whip made of hippopotamus- 
hide, which draws blood at each stroke. 

The relatives of a person who has been executed 
for crime are not entitled to bury him without paying 
ransom for the body, which, as in the case of a man 
dying in debt, is placed on a platform of sticks 
outside the town, until the ransom is paid.

LANOUAOE. 

(1) Verbs. 

(1) In Yoruba, as in Tshi, Gra, and Ewe, all simple 
roots are monosyllabic verbs, consisting of a consonant 
followed by a vowel. These, which are the primitive 
verbs, we will call verbs of Class I. Examples : — 

Buy to meet. Je, to eat. TFcr, to come. 

Biy to beget. Mo, to drink. Mi, to breathe. 

Da, to make. Lo, to go. Wo, to see. 

(2) Verbs of Class II. are formed from Class I., 
by adding a liquid n. 

Tan, to gape, yawn ; from ya, to open, part. 

(3) Verbs of Class III. are formed by using to- 
gelher two verbs of Class I., which are, however, 
W|«r«ted by the objective noun. They are what we 
Cttjkd) in E^e, " Separable Compound Verbs." 
SsawpkeB: — 

%D Kf^t with ; from ba, to meet, and ja, to fight. 
In idtlM I ,9 ha, to meet, and ro, to consider. 

ImndoMi n ^h ^0 shut, and mo, to stop. 

„ gba, to take, and la, to save. 

„ du, to strive, and ro, to ease. 

LAXnUAGE. 

(4) Verbs of Class IV. are formed by joining a 
verb of Class I. and a noun, as : — 

BiUt, tn give way, give platT ; from hi, Xn ehove, and iVn, opening. 
Laja, to reconcile ; „ la, to save, and ija, Btrife, 

Kpeja, to fish; ,, kpe, to kill, and «;a, fish. 

Da-mrji, to divide ; „ <la, to make, and ineji, two. 

(5) Further compound verbs are raade by using 
verbs of Classes II. and III. with verbs of Class I., 
as: — 

(a) Da daro, to prevent ; from du, to make, and dui-o, to ceusB. 

Da kojii, to neglect; 
£pe kpada, to recall ; 

, to make, and koja, to omit. 
kjw, to call, and Iqiada, to come 

bnck. 
tr, to bend, and balU, to toncli the 

ground. 
In, to meet, and wijo, to complain. 

(6) Verbs of another class, and which may be 
called "verbs of possession," are formed by placing 

..j(b) Te balle, to bend down ; , 

wijo, to ji 

the verb vi, to have, 
vowels a, e, o, and 
or V. Thus :— 

Ni-dagiri, to be alarmed ; 
Ni-heru, to fear ; 
Ni-kpekun, to ti-'miinute ; 
Laba (ni'-ciio), to he hopefnl ; 
Laga (ni-agu), to be weary ; 
Lebi (ni-ebi), to be huiiffry ; 
Lite (ni-eU), to intend; 
Zmko (ni-owo), to he rich ; 
Lognn (ni'-oyun). to he pregnant ; 

before a noun. Before the 

is changed euphonically to /(', 

From rii, and idagiri, alarm. 
„ ni, and ibeni, feiir. 
„ ni, and ikpekan, end. 
ni, and aba, hope. 

ni, and ebi, hunger, 
m", and ete, intention. 
ni, and ou-o, wealth, 
ni, and aipm, pregnancy. 

Conjugation of Verbs. 
The Infinitive is expressed by the verb in its simple 

194 THE TOEUBA'SPEAKING PEOPLES. 

Indicative Mood. 
The ordinary rules for forming tenses in the 
Indicative appear to be : — 

(1) Present Indefinite, or Past Indefinite ; the verb 
in its simple form. 

(2) Future; by the prefix yio, which is commonly 
abbreviated to o. 

(3) Perfect, Pluperfect, and Second Future; by 
placing ((. before the verb. Ti is probably a contrac- 
tion of tan, to be at an end, be done. 

Fbbhemt Ihdbfikite, or Past Indefinite. 
Emife, I love, or loved. Awafe, We love, or loved. 

Iwo fe, Tlifiu lovest, or lovedst. Enyiafe, Tou love, or loved, 
Onfe, He lovea, or loved. Awonfe, They love, or loved. 

Emi ofe, I shall lovo, Awa oft, Wo shall lovo. 

Ivio oft. Thou shalt love. Enijin off, You shall lovo. 

On oft. He shall love. Awon nfe. They shall love. 

Pbrfect, or Pldperfect. 
Evii li ft, I have, or hoil, lovod. ^wnd'/i^, We have, or had, loved, 
/wo ti fe, Thou haat, or hiidst, Enyin ti fe. You have, or had^' 

loved. loved. 

On ii/e, He has, or had, loved, Awon lift, They have, or had 
loved. 

Second FcTonE, 
Emi otift, I shall have loved, Aiea otife. We shall have loved. 

Iwo otift, Thou shalt have loved. Ent/tn otift. You shall have loved, 
On olife. He shall have loved. Awon otift. They shall have lovodJ 

Bach of these tenses can be made more definite by: 
prefixing It to the verb. This prefix is no doubt the 

verb ni, to be. It conveys an allusion to the present 
time, and the notion of an action not yet completed. 
Thus ;— 

Emi nfe, I am losing. 
&c. &c. 

Emi n oft, I shall be loving. 

be. (tc. 

FUTUBB. 

Avia n ofe, We shall be loTing. 

Fbrfeot, oh Pluperfect. 
Etai ti nfi, I have, or had, been Aiea ti nft, We have, or bad, been 

roncg. loving. 

d». &C. &C. t&C. 

Imperative Mood. 
The Imperative Mood ia formed by using the verb 
jeki with the verb. Jeki appears to be a compound 
verb, having the meaning " to permit, let," and to be 
compounded of je, to be willing, and ki, to fulfil. 
The Imperative Mood is thus really expressed by a 
compound verb of Class V., and the objective noun, 
or pronoun, is, according to the rule which governs 
compound verbs, placed between the two verbs. 
Thus :— 

Jeki emi/e, Let me love. 
Jeti oft. Let him love. 

Jtkif. 
Jeki c 

'a ft, Let us love. 
ion fe, Let them love, 

I In the second person the verb je is not used, as : — 

>ofe, Love thou, Ki ejtyrnfe. Love ye, 

nis is sufficiently comprehensible when we con- 

: the meaning of jeJd. Je, conveying the meaning 

of permission, is not here required, and ki, conveying 
the sense of fulfilling, remains. In the same way the 
" let " of the English Imperative disappears in the 
second person. 

It should be mentioned that the letter o is frequently 
prefixed to the verb in the Imperative, and is no doubt 
the sign of the Future. 

Subjunctive Mood. 
The Subjunctive Mood is expressed by means of a 
verb meaning to be able, can, may, which, -with the 
verb proper, forma a compound verb of Class III. 

Emilffi, I may lore. 
/iM U/t, Thou mayest loi 
On Ufe, Hu may lovo. 

PnKSBHT. 

Awa Ufe, Wp nitty love. 
Enyin le/e, Vou may love. 
Ataofi Uft, They may love. 

Emi U tiff. 1 may have lnre<l. Au-a U life, We may IiaTe lovtsl. 
&c. Ac. &C. Ac. 

In the Ewe language we found this plan much 
■lurther elaborated, Consecutive, Iterative, Intentative, 
d Continuative Moods being formed by using with 
w verb verbs conveying the notion of action in the 

immediate future, repeated action, intended action, 

and continued action respectively.* 

I 

P*8sivK Voice. 

M* no passive verbs in Yoruba, but there is 
"fc^rfr* f^ expressing the idea conveyed by a passive 

IlM Ii*c-Spe»kiiig Peoples of the yinve Const," p. 235. 

LANGUAGE, 197 

verb, viz. : by prefixing a to the active verb and 
placing the pronoun after the verb. A appears to 
be a contraction of the personal pronoun awon^ they, 
here used in the sense of " one," " some one." 
Thus:— 

Afe^ to be loved. 

Indicative Mood. 

Presbht Tense. 

Afe *mi, I am loved (lit. one loves me). Afe ^wa, We are loved. 
Afe *wOj ThoQ art loved. Afe 'nyin, You are loved. 

Afe 0, He is loved. Afe ^won^ They are loved. 

Future. 

A ofe mi, I shall be loyed (one A ofe ^wa, We shall be loved, 
will love me). 

Perfect, or Pluperfect. 

Ati fe ^mi, I have, or had, been Ati fe ^wa, We have, or had, been 
loved. loved. 

Second Future. 

A oil fe ^mi, I shall have been A oti fe ^wa, We shall have been 
loved. loved. 

Imperative Mood. 

Jeki afe ^mi, Let me be loved. 
&c <fec. 

Svhjwictive Mood. 

Present. 
Alefe 'mi, I may be loved. Alefe ^wa, We may be loved. 

198 THE ronUBA-SPEAKIiVG PEOPLES. 

P*8T. 

Ale ti ft 'mi, I mny have been Ale ti fe 'wa. We may liave been J 
loved. loved. 

Neoativk Voice. 

As in Tslii, Ga, and Ewe, verbs are also conjugated J 
negatively. In Toraba this is effected by placingj 
the negative particle ai before the verb. Thus :■ 

Fe, to lore. Aife, not to love. 

Ai IB compounded of a, not, and the substantive 
formative prefis i, signifying a state of being. 

The negative particle of a verb of possession is iat, ] 
which is simply al, with the verb 7ii, to be, euphoni-; 
cally changed to /, placed before it. Example : — • 

Lowo {ni-oivo), to be rich, have wealth. 

Lai-loKP, not to be rich (literally, " not to bo to Lave wealth "). 

Many verbs denote a quality, as : — 

Le, to be hard, or strong. 
Du, to be black. 
Mo, to be clean. 

Articles. 

The indefinite article is expressed by okan (oneH 
being placed after the noun. It is almost invariablj 
abbreviated to lean. 

The definite article is expressed by the demonstra- 
tive pronoun iia (that), which is placed after tb 
noun. Thus : — 

Okonri kan, a man ; literally, " one man." 
Okonri na, the man ; Uternllj, " that man." 

LAXGUAGE. 190> 

Pronouns. 
r(l) Personal pronouns. 
"When used in conjunction with a verb, the personal 
pronouns are : — 

Emt, mo, or ng, I. ^lon. We. 

Iwo, or o, Tlion. Enyia, You. 

* On, or no, He, slie, or it. Awon, or >mon, They. 

Mo, I, cannot be used with the future tenses. Nij 
is more commonly used in the future than emi, and is 
often used whenever the n, signifying action not yet 
completed, is prefixed to the verb. The independent 
forms of the personal pronouns are the same as those 
given first above. The personal pronouns are made 
possessive by placing ti before them. Ti is an 
obsolete verb, now only used in the sense of "of" or 
" belonging to." Thus : — 

Ti tjni, or t'emt, Mine. Tt awa, or t'awa, Ours. 

Ti iwo, or I'lico, Thine, I'i enytn, or I'enyin, Yoiii's. 

Ti on, or t'on, His. Ti awon, or ti'u.-on, Theirs. 

The objective personal pronouns are : — 
Mi, Me. Wa, Mb. 

Wo, or 0, Thee. N>/in, Ton. 

A, t, i, o, or u, Him, her, it. IFtm, Them. 

As will be seen, they are, with the exception of the 
third person singular, the nominative personal pro- 
nouns with the initial vowel omitted. The particular 
form to be used to express him, her, or it, is deter- 
mined by the vowel-sound of the verb, a being used 
with a verb in which the sound of a occurs, and 
BO on. Thus : — 

would be HBed with thu verb ha, or with kun. 

I 

200 rilE YUIIUBA-SPEAKIXG PF.OPI.F..<. 

The personal pronouns are made reflexive by 
adding li-kara (ti, of, or belonging to; ara, body, 
form) ;— 

Til-ara 'mi, 6Iy!=p]t. Td-ara 'tea, Oureeives. 

By placing na {the same that) after a personal 
pronoun the particularising power is increased. It 
denotes the exclusion of any other person, and answers 
to "myself," "himself," &c. : — 

Emi na, I myyelf. 

. We ourselTcs, 

(2) Relative pronouns. 
There is only one, viz.: ti, which means who, 

whom, which, that. 

In the nominative case the personal pronoun to 
which it relates is always placed after it, as 
Ii/a ti ofe W, " the mother who loves me," literally, 
"the mother who she loves me." In the objective 
case the relative pronoun is governed by the verb, and 
the personal pronoun is not required. Thus lya 
emife, " the mother whom I love." 

(3) Demonstrative pronouns. 
These are : — 

JEs'H', t'ji, o 
Egini, eni, n 

■r nil, Thftt, 

Woni/<, These. 
iVonm, Those. 

JHyiyi, etji, or yi, seems to mean literally " the thing 
taken," and Eyini to be composed of eyi, and enii 
one. Won, is an abbreviation of aw<yii, they. 

The adverbial demonstrative pronouns of tin 
place, and manner are expressed by : — 

Sigbana, then, at that time (ni, to be ; igha, time; na, that). 
Nihin-yi, lipro. tii this place {niJia, locality, plneo ; fi/l, Uiis). 

Nibe-ita, there, ill that place (ni6e, in or at a place; wu, that). 
£ai, thus, in this manner (is perhaps a contraction of in- tryi, to meet 
this). 

(4) Interrogative pronouns. 

Tani, Who. 
Etco, Which. 

The poasessive cases are made by prefixing ti, 
*' belonging to " : — 
2V-Iant, Ti-tvio. 

I 

Nouns are formed in the following ways : — 
(1) From the verb, with the prefix i. This prefix 
seems to convey the notion of things regarded collec- 
tively, or in the abstract. 

Jfe, love, willingness, 
I Jgn, height, luftiness, 
I Jka, compntation, reckoning, 

Iri, & seeing, sight, 

Bo, the act of going, 

Ita, pain, smart, 

/(ft', blackness, 

lee, cookery, 

Jtpamo, the act of hiding, 

Jkpare, erasure . 

from_/e, to love. 

„ ga, to be high, or tnl 

„ ka, to count. 

„ ri, to see. 

„ lo, to go. 

,, la, to sting. 

„ du, to be black. 

„ ee, to prepnro food. 

„ tpamo, to hide. 

„ kpare, to rub out. 

I. ............ 

^ seems to limit the abstract notion of the verb and 
make it more concrete. Properly speaking, it seems 
to carry with it a suggestion of passivenesa, or of 
individuality of things rather than of beings, but 
noiuLS expressing personality are nevertheless some- 

times formed with this prefix, 
changed to e. 

A is occasionally 

Afe, pleastire, a state of loving, from/e, to love. 

Aga, a. chnir, elerat«d Geat, 
Aka,A storehous?, 
Alo, departure, 
Ata, pepper, capsioam, 
Eln, utensil, 
Edti, cinder, 
Eta, splinter, chip, 
Akpeja, fisherraaii, 
Afonnu, bonstcr, 

ga, to be high. 

, kii, to connt. 

lo, to go. 

ta, to sting. 

h, to use. 

rfu, to be black. 

la, to split, cleave. 

kpfjn, to fish. 
, fonnu, to boaat. 

(3) From the verb, with the prefix v. This prefix 
is the personal pronoun o, he, she, or it, and convejB 
the idea of distinct or active personality. It gives 
the meaning of "one who," or " that which, 
e who has borne). 

Oil, parent (o 

Obo, nurse, 

Ohi, corpse, 

O'u, borer, gimlet (thntwhlch bores), 

Omi, water (that which is swallowed), 

Okn, ring (that which la coiled) 

Oyvn, pregnancy, 

from hi, to bear, lieget. 
„ ho, to food, maintain. 

„ l«, to perforate. 

„ mi, to swallow. 

„ ta, to coil. 

„ yun, to be pregnant. 

OhiH, woman; oJconri, man; ofe, parrot; oforOf 
squirrel ; ogbo, wild cat ; ol-ete, bandicoot ; oloyo, 
monkey ; oiviiei, owl ; oino, child ; oba, king. 

(4) By joining a verb and a noun. 

Arin-ko, chance, 
Ajin-ta, kidnapper, 

Atiko, teaching, 
Ati-lo, departure 

from arin, middle, midst, and ;I'a (ni-it/io), to have strength, „ powerful. 

Laii/a {ni-ait/a), to have courage, „ brave. 

LANGUAGE. 207 

These can also be used in the negative. Thus : — 

Lni-nikpara^ not to hare harm, expresses harmless. 

Lat-mboy not to have breadth, „ narrow. 

Lai'tukpa^ not to have strength, „ powerless. 

(3) By nouns with the negative particle ai (no, not), 
or lai (not being), prefixed. Thus : — 

Aidaba (at idaha, no hope) can be used to express hopeless, 
iit^^na (at fj^^no, no warmth) „ „ cold. 

Lai daju (lai idaju^ not being 

certainty) ,, „ uncertain* 

Laidon (lai idon^ not being 

sweetness) „ „ unpleasant. 

The only adjectives proper are those formed by 
reduplication from a verb, ordinarily an adjectival 
verb. Examples : — 

WiwOy bent, crooked, from wo, to be bent. 

Tito^ straight, „ to, to be straight. 

LiUy hard, „ Uy to be hard. 

LeUy pliant, „ ^, to be pliant. 

Gtga^ high, tall, „ ga^ to be high or tall. 

Dudu^ black, „ du, to be black. 

KvkurUf short, „ htru, to be short. 

Bum, disordered, „ ru, to stir up, mingle. 

JujUf confused, „ ju, to surpass, differ. 

Adverbs. 

Adverbs are usually expressed by verbs, nouns, 
adjectives, or compounds of these, used adverbially. 
The word used as an adverb is always placed after 
the verb or objective noun. Examples : — 

Awhile, for a time, by osa^ time, interval of time. 

Before (sooner), „ sin, to lead the way. 

THE YOnilUA-.^P£AKlNa PEOPLE,-i. 

Artcmarils, 

by dehin (de, to reach, chin, the back) 

Lute, 

„ pe, to be long. 

There, 

„ ihe, pUce. 

Far, 

„ ji, to be far. 

AsiUe, agiHrt, 

„ soto («o, to turn, nnil to, to go to^ 

Down, beneatb, 

„ i$ole, base, bottom. 

Quite, 

,, jM, to be complete. 

Foremnst, in front, 

„ tiwaju {ti, to push, nnd iira/l 

face, fnjnt). 

Freely, 

„ f(tli, to draw aside. 

Coolly, calmly. 

„ fhon, to take a little at a time. 

Closely, 

„ nio-dni, to adhere to the body. 

Verbs of possession are very commonly use^ 
adverbially. Thus : — 

Across, may be expressed by w'Au (ni ibu'), to hare breadth, 

Now „ „ „ nigboi/i (m'-igba-i/i}, to hare this time. 

Afterwards „ „ nigbehia (ni-igba-ehin), to have 

time back. 
Proudly „ „ „ nirera (ni'-trern), to have pride. 

There are, however, a number of words whicli 
appear to be true adverbs, but may only be adjectival 
used adverbially, since they are all formed by redupli- 
cation from verbs. Examples : 

Yara.yara, quickly, from i/ara, to be quick. 

Tuln, entirely, 
Jait-jalt, thoroughly, 

Fule-fvle, softly, 
Rege-rfge erenly, equally, 
Sft/e-aege, unevenly, unequally, 

J^e, gently, softly. 

„ tu, to loosen, untile. 

, jalt, to go through. 

, fule, to be soft. 

, re, to agree, and ff, lobe equ] 

, se, to niias the mark, and j 

to be cquul. 

, ;>, to comply. 

A peculiarity is that many adverbs can only 
used with a special verb or adjective. There is. 

LANGUAGE. 209 

course, some connection between the adverb and the 
word it qualifies, which connection we can in a few 
cases discover by referring to Tshi, Ga, or Ewe, but 
in others it remains obscure. 

For example, take the following adverbs, each of 
which can only be rendered in English by " very," 
or " exceedingly." 

1. Biri'biri, very, can only be used with the Ycrb shu^ to be dark, or 
gloomj, as oju-orun shu biri-biri, " the sky is very gloomy." Here 
the connection is discoverable, as there is in Tshi a verb, &tW, to be 
dark, gloomy, or black, so that btri-biri itself would properly mean 
" gloomy." 

2. Fio-fioy very, can only be used with the verb ^a, to be tall, or 
with the adjective giga, tall. This is explained by the verbs fro, to 
ascend, climb (Tshi) ; /«/, to shoot up (Ga) ; fo, to rise, raise (E^e) ; 
andyb, to jump, leap (Yomba), which show that Jio-JiOf properly means 
raised. 

3. Rin-riny very, can only be used with the verb wuwOy to be heavy. 
As it is a reduplication of rin, to be saturated, to press down to the 
ground, the connection can be seen. 

4. Janjatiy very, can only be used of the heat of the sun. JV, is 
the sun in Ewe. 

5. GarQy very, can only be used with reference to transparency, 
clearness ; as ami mimo gara, " very clear water.'* The hard ** g " is 
only a softened " k," and we find ib, to be clear, pure (E^e), and 
iron, pure, clear ( Ga). 

6. Ram-ram J very, can only be used with the verb ie, to roar, utter 
|i cry or sound. Ra-m, loudly, can only be used with the same verb. 

7. Niniy very, can only be used with tutu, to be cold. 

8. Dodoj very, can only be used with ro, to slacken, to cool ardour. 
This is perhaps explained by the verbs de, to slacken (Yoruba) ; do, 
to let go, doy to be grieved, troubled (E^e); and do, to grant (Gi). 

9. JojOf very, can only be used with n verb of abundance, as, for 
instance, with po, to be many. Enia po jojo, " the people are very 
many." 

10. Koro, very, can only be used with jaU, to go through. It is 
perhaps from ko, to meet, and ro, to give way. 

P 

210 THE YORUBA'SPEAKING PEOPLES, 

11. Kpere-lcpere^ very, can only be used with duy to be black. It is 
probably from kpe^ to endure, last, and re^ to dye. 

Similarly each colour seems to have an adverb 
proper to it, to convey the meaning " beautifully." 
Thus, heleje can only be used of yellow, and fo of a 
bright yellow. The latter is explained by the fact 
that fu means yellow in Ga. JRoki-roM and row can 
only be used with the verb pon^ to be red, and bolojo 
only of a jet-black. 

In the same way, jigbini (abundantly) can only 
be used of fruits ; papa (violently) only with wa^ to 
tremble ; lulu (entirely) only with son, to burn ; and 
so on. 

Conjunctions. 

There are no conjunctions properly speaking, their 
place being supplied by verbs, nouns, or compounds 
of the two. Examples : — 

And, also, 

by sin, to accompany. 

If, or whether, 

„ hi, to ask. 

Since, 

„ ti, to support. 

Notwithstanding, 

„ adi, the act of shutting, closing, or 

blocking. 

Or, nor, either, neither. 

„ tabi (ta, to pass from one place to another. 

and ibi, place). 

Because, 

„ nitori (ni, to have ; itori, share, lot). 

Although, 

„ tile (ti, to have ; le, to replenish). 

Unless, 

„ bike (hi, to bear, beget ; ikose, hindrance). 

Prepositions. 

Prepositions are also expressed by verbs, nouns, 
or compounds of the two. Examples : — 

Under, beneath, below, by niaale, to have the lower part 

LANGUAGE. 211 

Over, npon, above, by lohe (ni-oke), to have the top, or by Ion 

(ni-ori), to have the head. 
In, within, „ nino (nt-tno), to have the interior. 

To, against, „ «t, to go to. 

At, in, „ ni, to occupy, get. 

Between, „ larin (m-arin), to have the centre. 

Numerals. 
The primary numerals are : — 

One, Em, Eight, Ejo. 

Two, Eji. Nine, Esan. 

Three, Eta. Ten, Ewa. 

Four, Erin, or Merin. Twenty, Ogun. 

Five, Arun. Thirty, Ogbon. 

Six, E/a. Two Hundred, Igba. 
Seven, Eje. 

As the vowel-prefix shows, these are all nouns. 

The numbers from eleven to fourteen are formed 
by Bufl&xing luy a euphonic change from \oaj ten, to 
the units. Thus : — 

Eleven, Okan-la. Thirteen, Eta-la, 

Twelve, Ejt-la. Fourteen, Erin^la. 

It will be observed that the word ohan, which stands 
for "one" in the compound ** one-ten," is different 
from " one " as above. The word oJcan is evidently 
the same as the Tshi numeral eko, or akon, " one " ; 
and the existence in the Yoruba language of such 
words as ako-bi (first-bom), ako-ro (the first rains), 
akO'SO (first fruits), shows that ako^ or akon^ formerly 
stood for " one," instead of the present word eni. 

The numbers from fifteen to nineteen are formed bv 
deducting from twenty. Thus : — 

Fifteen, Edogun {arun-di-ogun, five less than twenty). 

p 2 

212 THE YORVBA-SPEAKIXG PEOPLES. 

SixteeD, Erim-di-loffmn (foar less tbao twenty). 

Seventeen, Eta-di-lofmm (three less thui twraty ). 

Eighteen, Eji dt-logm (tito tess than twenty). 

Nineteen, Otatt^di-logtm (one less thmn twenty). 

iH is a verb, to be short of, or less than. The 
letter I is inserted between ^t and orptn, for the sake 
of euphony. 

The tens from forty to two hundred which contain 
a, complete number of scores, are formed by placing 
ogun, twenty, before the units. Thus ; — 
Forty, Oji (ogun-eji, twenties-lwi). 
Sixty, Ogota (ogun-tta, twentie^throe). It is commonly abbr«- 

Tiated to Ota. 
Eighty, Ogorin (ogun-erin, twenties-fonr). Abbreviated to Onu. 
One hnndrcd, Ogcrutt {ogun-ama, twentie^five). AbbreviaUd 

to Orttn, 
One hnndrcd and twenty, Ogofa (^ogua-tfa, twenties- six). 
One hnndred and forty, Ogoje (ogun-tjf, twenties-Beven.) 
One hiindicd and sixty, Offojo {ogun-ejo, twenties -eight). 
One hnndred and eighty, Ogosan (ogun-uan, twenties- nine). 

The tens from forty to two hundred which will not 
divide by twenty are formed by deducting ten from 
the ton next above. Thus : — 

Kitty, Adota {twa-<li~otay ten less than sixty). 

Seronty, Ailorin (eu-a-di-orin, ten Icbb thon eighty). 

Ninoty, Adorun {ewa-di-ontn, ten less than one Imndred). 

Ona hundred and ten, Adofa {twa-di-ogofa, ten less than one 

hundred imd twenty). 
One hnndrwl nnd thirty, .di/'y'e {eica-di-ogojt, ten less than one 

huB'lrt'd mill forty). 
t>lW hnndrod nml fifty, Adojo {twa-di-ogojo, ten less than on« 
hwidml and sixty). 
.^ ^„n\lred and seventy, Adosan (ewo-rfi-ojosan, t«n less than 

oa»httnd«diind eighty). 
^^ hwJre.1 wid "'n';ty> F.wa-tU-nigba (ten Il-ss thnn two 
huniwd). 

LASaUAGE. 213 

The numbers between the tens are expressed on 
the same principle as those from eleven to nineteen, 
"viz. : from one to four by joining the lower to the 
liigher (in this case by means of the verb le, to add), 
and from five to nine by deducting from the ten nest 
above by means of the verb di. Thus : — 

Twenty-one, Okan-le-oijan (one added to twenty). 
Twenty-two, Eji-U-ogvn (two added to twenty). 
Twenty-three, Ela-lf-offiin (three added to twenty). 
Twenty-four, Erin-U-oi/im (four added to iwentj). 
Twenty-fire, Etlogbon (arun-di'Ogban, five less tlinn thirty). 
Twenty-six, Erin-dt-logbon, (four less tLan thirty). 
Twenty-seven, Ela-di-logbon (three less than thirty). 
Twenty-eight, Eji-di-hgbon {two less than thirty). 
Twenty-nine, Okan-di-loi/bon (one less than thirty). 

From two hundred upwards the Toniba peoples 
reckon by two hundreds. When the number is odd 
they say " So many two hundreds, less one hundred," 
and to facilitate this process they have a word ede, 
which means " minus one hundred," or " minus one 
thousand," according to whether it is used in connec- 
tion with hundreds or thousands. Two hundred is 
ten score, and computation by two-hundreds is as 
natural to people who reckon by scores as that by 
hundreds, i.e., ten tens, is to people who reckon by 
tens. 

The numbers from two hundred upwards are, 
however, ordinarily expressed in cowry nomenclature. 
These shells are pierced and strung on strings to the 
number of forty or fifty, and five of the former or 
four of the latter make up two hundred cowries, or a 
small bundle, called ighau-u (owo, cowries), which word 

214 THE rORUBA-SPEAKINQ PEOPLES. 

is frequently abbreviated to igbio. Ten 
bundles, or two thousand cowries, make a large bundle 
eghawa, or egba, and ten large bundles, or twenty 
thousand cowries, make a bag, oke kan (oke, bag, okan, 
one). Thus : — 

Six hnnUred is fgbtta (iybiu-tta), three sDinll bandies. 

Five htindreil is edegbtta (eile-egbtta), three small bnndles minus 

one hundred . 
Twelve hondred is ffflf/t {ighto tfa), six smnll bandies. 
Six thousand is eybata (egba-cla), three large bundles. 
Fire tboasand is edegbata (edf-egbata), three large bundles minns 

ons tboDsand. 

When twenty thousand — one bag — is arrived at, the 
computation is continued by bags : — 

Eiglity thousand, oke-meria (bngs-fonr). 

One hundred thousand, Oke-mamn (bags-five). 

This system of numeration is clumsy, and compares 
unfavorably with those evolved by the Tshi, Ga, and 
Ewe-speaking peoples, which are very regular. It 
exhibits rather stronger traces of the primitive practice 
of counting by fives, tens, and twenties — ^that is, by one 
hand, two hands, and hands and feet — than do the 
other systems. Okan, one, means "something alone," 
and no doubt refers to the thumb.* Eji, two, is pro- 
bably from ji, to pick, and means " the picker," that 
is, the index-finger. This verb appears again in ^"e, 
seven, which would be counted on the index-finger ol 
the other hand. Ela, three, is from the verb ta, 
shoot out lengthwise, and the third, or middle finger^ 
is the longest. Enii, four, is seemingly from the verii 
rill, to go, progress, and would mean " the progress*: 

■ Thumb is ulamimko. 

LANGUAOE. 215 

ing/' AtuUj five, is from nm, to bring to an end, finish. 
It means " the ending," and five brings to an end the 
counting of the fingers of one hand. Efa^ six, which 
would be counted on the thumb of the other hand, 
seems to mean " that which leads or attracts," and to be 
from /a, to lead, attract, draw ; and eioa^ ten, is pro- 
bably from the verb loa, to come together, and refers 
to the closing of the two hands when the counting is 
finished. The derivation of e/o, eight, and eran^ nine, 
is not clear. Then eleven, twelve, thirteen, and four- 
teen are respectively ten-one, ten-two, ten-three, and 
ten-four ; but fifteen, which completes the counting on 
one hand, is five less than twenty. The computation 
is then carried to the other hand, and we get four less 
than twenty, three less than twenty, and so on, till 
twenty is reached. From twenty to two hundred the 
computation is by scores, that is, by hands and feet. 

The ordinal numbers are formed by prefixing ekon — 
completion, fulness, generally contracted to ek^ — before 
the cardinal numbers, but complete tens above ten, 
that is, twenty, thirty, &c., do not take this prefix. 
Thus :— 

First. Ek-eni, Eleventh. Ek-okanla. 

Second. Ek^eji, Twentieth. Ogun, 

Third. Ek-eta, Twenty-first. Ek'Okan-le'ogun, 

Tenth. Ek-ewa, Twenty-fifth. Ek^dogbon. 

When answering the question " How many ? " it is 
necessary to prefix m to the cardinal number, except 
in the case of one, ten, twenty, thirty, &c. Thus, 
mefa, six, instead of efa ; tnejiy two, instead of ejiy and 
so on. 

The numeral adverbs of time are formed by prefixing 

21C THE YOIIU/U-SPEAKIXG PEOPLES. 

ara, usually contracted to c, before the cardiual ■ 
bers, as used in answer to a question. Thus :— 

Once, ekan (ara 
Twice, emeji(ai'. 
Thrice, emeia (o 
Four times, erne 

■inn). 

in {_ura-Merin). 

Ara is a noun which has the primary meaning of I 
custom, fashion, but also means a repetition. 

The numeral adverbs of order are formed by pre- 
fixing the verb hke, to be prominent, or uppermost, 

abbreviated to 

Thus: 

lek' before the cardinal numbers. 

Firstly, lek-eai. 
Seeonilly, lek-t^i. 
Tliirdly, tek-eta. 

From the preceding it will have been seen that, as 
in Tshi, Ga, and Ewe, all the words in the language 
are derived from the simple monosyllabic verbs. The 
list of Yoruba simple monosyllabic verbs \vill be found 
in the Appendix, ivhere the four languages are com- 
pared. 

There is the usual want of definiteness in eKpresBing 
colours. Fvfu means white, or any light colour} 
dudu, black, dark blue, dark green, purple, or any 
dark colour; and pupa, red, scarlet, or yellow^ 
Colours are thus grouped into three classes, light, 
dark, and reddish. To express different shades of 
colour with exactness recoiurse is bad to natural objecta 
Thus, grey is expressed by eru, " ashes " ; blue, bj 
awo-aru, " colour of the aro," a small bird of bin 
plumage ; light blue by aioo-oju-orun, " sky-colour '■ 
green by utet/o, " duck -weed " ; purple by awo-cUuko, 

LANGUAGE, 217 

** colour of the aluko," a bird of a purpKsh hue; and 
yellow by iyeye'^ the name of a yellow plum, or by 
shafa-pupay literally " faded, scraped, red." 

That, in speaking, the words should follow one 
another in the natural order in which they would 
occur to the mind, is what is to be expected from a 
people who have not invented an elaborate syntax. 
Thus the adjective always follows the noun, and a 
native would say "Handkerchief red," instead of 
putting the attribute before the subject, as we do, 
and saying " Red handkerchief." Similarly they say 
"Water bring," instead of " Bring water," and " Cold 
blows the wind," or, literally, " Coldness owns the 
wind," instead of " The wind blows cold." In short, 
the notion which comes first to the mind is that which 
is first expressed.

PROVERBS. 

The Yorubas have an extraordinary number of pro- 
verbial sayings, and regard a knowledge of them as a 
proof of great wisdom, whence the saying, "A counsellor 
who understands proverbs soon sets matters right." 
They are in constant use, and another saying runs, 
" A proverb is the horse of conversation. When the 
conversation droops a proverb revives it. Proverbs 
and conversation follow each other." Several of the 
proverbs given in the volume on the Ewe-speaking 
peoples are known to and used by the Yoruba-speak- 
ing peoples ; but they have hundreds of others which 
appear to be peculiar to themselves, and from these 
the following are taken as examples : — 

1 . Secrets should never be told to a tattler. 

2. What is not wished to be known is done in 
secret. 

3. He who has done something in secret, and sees 
people talking together, thinks they are talking of his 
action. 

4. A whisperer looks suspiciously at the forest 
when he hears a noise, but the forest does not tell 
tales. 

PROVERBS. 219 

5. Bags make up a pad. 

6. Continuai sweepings make a dust-heap. 

7. One here : two there : a great crowd. 

8. One here : two there : the market is filled up. 

(Kos. 5 to 8 are equiyalent to oar '' Many a mickle makes a muckle.**) 

9. Boasting is not courage. 

10. He who boasts much cannot do much. 

11. Much gesticulation does not prove courage. 

12. It is easy to cut to pieces a dead elephant. 

(Nos. 9 to 12 resemble oar " Deeds, not words.'*) 

13. "I nearly killed the bird." No one can eat 
nearly in a stew. 

(Answers to " Catch your hare before you cook him.'*) 

14. A hog that has wallowed in the mud seeks a 
clean person to rub against. 

15. A man in a white cloth is never looked for in 
the palm-oil market. 

(Is something akin to ^' You cannot touch pitch without being 

defiled.") 

16. The cross-roads do not fear sacrifices. 

17. The sieve never sifts meal by itself. 

18. Disobedience will drink water with his hands 
tied up. 

19. Disobedience is the father of insolence. 

20. Calamity has no voice ; suffering cannot speak 
to tell who is really in distress. 

21. He who owns the inner square of the house is 
the master of the outer. 

22. Peace is the father of friendship. 

23. Strife never begets a gentle child. 

24. He who forgives ends the quarrel. 

2-20 THE YOnunAHPEAKiyG PEOPLES. 

26. A eliarp word is as tough aa a bow-string. A 
sharp word cannot be cured, but a wound may. 

2G. A peacemaker often receives blows. 

27. There is no medicine against old age. 

28. The afomo (a parasitical plant) has no roots; 
it claims relationship with every tree. 

29. A man with a cough can never conceal him- 
self. 

30. Full-belly child says to hungry-belly child, 
" Keep good heart." 

31. A jealous woman has no flesh upon her breast, 
for however much she may feed upon jealousy, she 
will never be satisfied. 

32. Houses that are not adjacent do not readily 
catch fire. 

33. Do not attempt what you cannot bring to a 
good end. 

31. Bach coloured cloth has its name. 

35. He who marries a beauty marries trouble. 

36. A man of the town knows nothing about farm- 
ing, or the seasons for planting, yet the yam he buys 
must always be large. 

37. A witch kills but never inherits. 

33. Unless the tree falls you will never be able to 
reach the branches. 

39. Another's eye is not like one's own. 

40. The bite of the sand-fly is not so bad aa 
poverty. 

41. Poverty destroys a man's reputation. 

42. A poor man has no relations. 

43. Poverty never visits a poor man without visiting 
his children also. 

44. The white man is the father of merchants, and 
want of money is the father of disgrace. 

45. A man may be born to a fortune, but wisdom 
only comes with length of days. 

46. People think that the poor are not so wise as 
the rich, for if a man be wise, why is he poor? 

47. The appearance of the wise differs from that of 
the fool. 

48. The labourer is always in the sun, the planta- 
^^ion-owner always in the shade. 

^^H (Answers to " One sows, iinother reaps.") 

^B 49. A lazy man looks for light employment. 

^B 50. Laziness lends assistance to fatigue. 

^M 61. The potsherd goes in front of the man who has 

^l^en embers on it from the fire. 

^H (Means that every enterprise requires a leader.) 

■ 62. The partridge says : " What business has the 
farmer to bring his cloth here?" (fearing it may be 
a bird-trap). The farmer says : " How could I go 

'..^"t o my farm without my cloth ? " 

^H (Tills means that there are two sides to every qnestion.) 

53. Bar, hear the other before you decide. 

54. He who annoys another only teaches him to 
strengthen himself. 

55. He who waits for a chance will have to wait 
for a year, 

56. When the jackal dies the fowls do not mourn, 
for the jackal never brings up a chicken. 

57. When fire burns in the bush, srouta fly into the 
town. 

(Answers td " Evil coiomunicntion corrupts good manners.") 

222 THE TOnUBA-SPEAKlNG PEOPLES. 

58. Tale-bearing ia tlie elder brother, vexation tho 
younger. 

59. He who knows a matter beforehand confuses 
the liar, 

60. Time may be very long, but a lie will not go 
to forgetfulness. 

61. A lie costs nothing to a liar. 
G2. A man walks calmly in the presence of hia 

defamer ; a man walk.% proudly in the presence of his 
slanderer, when he knows that the slanderer has only 
twenty cowries in his house. 

63. To be trodden upon here, to be trodden upon 
there, is the fate of the palra-kemel lying in the 
road. 

64. The sole of the foot is exposed to all the dirt 
of the road. 

65. He who eats akashu docs not know that a 
famine prevails. 

(Akashu is a large ball of agidi, nud liouce emblemittic of plenty.) 

66. Consideration is the senior, calculation the 
junior, and wisdom the third-born. 

67. "Want of consideration and forethought made 
six brothers pawn themselves for six dollars. 
(Inatenil of one lirothor pawning liiniselE for the whole nniount, iQ 

which case the others wonld b^ free to work and earn money with 
which to reileein him.) 

68. An obstinate man soon falls into disgrace. 

69. Inquiry saves a man from making mistakes. 
He who makes no inquiry gets himself into trouble. 

70. Though a man may miss other things, he never 
nisses his mouth. 

PROVERBS. 223 

71. Not to aid one in distress is to kill him in your 
heart. 

72. Charity is the father of sacrifice. 

73. Covetousness is the father of disease. - 

74. Never did our fathers honour an orislia of this 
kind. 

(Is used to discountenance innovations.) 

75. A white cloth and a stain never agree. 

76. Thorns do not agree with the foot. 

77. The stream may dry up, but the watercourse 
still keeps its name. 

78. When water is poured on the head it finds its 
way down to the feet. 

79. A gift is a gift, and a purchase is a purchase ; 
so no one will thank you for saying " I sold it you 
very cheap." 

80. Hawks go away for the nesting-season, and 
fools think they have gone away for ever. 

81. Ashes fly back in the face of him who throws 
them. 

(Is equivalent to our " Curses come home to roost.") 

82. It is the path of the needle that the thread is 
accustomed to follow. 

83. If a matter be dark, dive to the bottom. 

84. He who is pierced with a thorn must limp off 
to him who has a knife. 

85. Every man's character is good in his own eyes. 

(Tliis resembles " Self-praise is no recommendation.") 

86. Wherever a man goes to dwell, his character 
goes with him. 

m THE YOnUBA-SPEAKING PEOPLES. 

ST. Frogs' spawn does not attract the attention of 
the robber. 

(Fross" spawn is supposed to resemble ft muss oE boa<lB.) 

SS. The white ant may well admire the bird, for it 
loeee its wings after flying for only one day. 

Sii*. Gently ! gently ! still hurts the snail. 

W. A bribe blinds the judge's eyes, for bribes never 
spMk the truth. 

91. A witness speaks the truth ; a witness is not a 

9i f wo is the home of the grey parrot, Ibara the 
home of the hawk, but where is the home of the green 

(Is used to persona making false pretences.) 

93. Bank rises after bank, and ditch follows after 
ditch. WTien the rain falls into the ditch the banks 
«re enmus. 

{li sat<l of those wlio are disstttisHcd witli tlieir station in lifs.) 

94. The strength of a mortar (made of wood) is nob 
like the strength of a pot (made of clay). Place a 
mortar on the fire and it will burn ; pound a yam in a 
pot and it will break. 

(Me«ns that there is o proper use for orerything.) 

1*J». When the monkey jumps from the tree he 
c ato the house, 

Mvdcwtos till? danger of leaving onu's proper station.) 
•^•k having fixed itself on the mouth of a 
» : was asked to take it off; but the fowl 
-:v wait food for the jackal just as the tick 

ift unbecoming in an elder. 

PROVERBS. 225 

98. Three elders cannot all fail to pronounce the 
word ekuhi; one may say eJculUy another ekuluy but the 
third will say ekulu. 

(^Ekulu is the name of an antelope. The saying means that there is 

safety in a nmnbcr of counsellors.) 

99. The younger should not thrust himself into the 
seat of the elders. 

100. The young cannot teach the elders traditions. 

101. As a calabash receives the sediment of the 
water, so must an elder exercise forbearance. 

102. A man does not run among thorns for nothing. 
Either he is pursuing a snake or a snake is pursuing 
him. 

103. As no subject may keep a herald, so it is not 
every man who may own a palace. 

104. Everyone in the assembly has a name, but 
when you are summoned " in the name of the assem- 
bly " (instead of in the name of some individual in 
it) evil awaits you. 

105. A near neighbour need not say good-bye till 
to-morrow. 

106. A thing thrown forward will surely be over- 
taken, and a thing put in the ground will be there to 
be dug up ; but if nothing has been thrown forward, 
what shall be overtaken ? and if nothing has been 
buried, what shall be dug up ? 

,(Is used to inculcate provident liabits.) 

107. The name given to a child becomes natural 
to it. 

108. Gold should be sold to him who knows its 
value. 

22C 

THE YU/irBA-SPEAA'iXG PEOPLES. 

109. Time is longer than a rope. 

110. The dawn does not come twice to wake a 
man. 

111. If clothes remain long in the bag they rot. 

112. The aghi (a bird with blue plumage) is the 
dyer in blue ; the aluko (a bird with purple plumage) 
is the painter of purple; but the lekileki (the white 
crane) is the ownei- of the white cloth. 

(Moans ench to Lis own parsuita.) 

113. AVheu the rain fell upon the parrot the aluko 
rejoiced, thinking that the red tail of the parrot 
would be spoiled, but the rain only increased its 
brilliancy. 

114. The akala (vulture) smells the carrion, no 
matter how high in the air he may be. 

115. The bat hangs "with Ms head down, watching I 
the actions of the birds. 

(Is used to inculcate silent observation,) 

116. He that has copper omaraenta looks after the 
lime ; he that has brass ornaments looks after thti 

(The lime is used for cleaning copper an tlie awedi for eleaoingl 
brass.) 

117. Though the dengi is cold on the top, yet thd 
inside is very hot. 

{Dengi is a Itind of gruel made of pounded maize. The proverb n; 
" Do not judge by appenrunces.") 

118. A small bed will not hold two persons. 

119. The elephant makes a dust and the buffa) 
makes a dust, but the dust of the buffalo is 1 
that of the elephant. 

PJtOVERBS. 227 

120. Though you appear very sharp you cannot 
tell nine times nine. 

121. A large morsel chokes a child. 

122. He who cannot lift an ant, and yet tries to * 
lift an elephant, will find out his folly. 

123. He who tries to shake the trunk of a tree 
only shakes himself. 

12J?. The world is the ocean and mankind is the 
lagoon. However well a man can swim he cannot 
cross the world. 

(No8. 119 to 124 are used Ui check presumption and over- ton fide nee.) 

125. When the eya (a wild cat) has reached to the 
ferocity of the leopard he will kill animals to feed on. 

126. Though the fire is burning the walls do not 
shrink from it, and yet the fire is trying to burn the 
water. 

(Is sniil of persons wbo aim at tlie greater when they ennnot 
aecomplish the less.) 

127. The cry of the bird kegio does not reach the 

sky. 

(Is used of one whose Opinion or iidvice ia not valued.) 

128. Cocoa-nut is not good for a bird to eat. 
(Thifl is used iu the same waj as our " sour grnpfis.") 

129. The bill-book cuts the bush, but receives no 
profit from the bush. It clears the road, but 
receives no profit from the road. The bill-hook is 
badly bent, the bill-hook is badly bent. The bill- 
hook is bent ; it pays five cowries to bind its neck 
(handle) with a ring. When the bill-hook reaches 

J 

. owners farm with the ring on its neck, it is 
'ded tightly for new works. 

(This Baying refers to tbe labour of slaves, nliicli brings them no 
raaiuneratton. lu the original it forms a kind of verse. Thus : — 

Ada shim igbo, 

ro om, 

Ko ri ere ona. 

Ada da ida huda, 

Ada da ida tuda. 
Ada da ; oji arun gbadi o di oko olowo. ' 

Ada li eka oron gbadea giri-giri.) 

130. The pot-lid is always badly off, for the pot 
gets all the sweet and the lid nothing but the steam. 

(" Pot-lid " is here used to menn " slare.") 

thfl^ 

131. Job-work is not the slave's first care; 
master's work has the first claim on his time. 

132. A slave is not the child of a tree (i.e., made of 
wood). When a slave dies his mother hears nothine 
of it, but when a free man dies there is mourning 
yet the slave, too, was once a child in his mothe^ 
house, 

133. As the yam-flour was once a soft unripe yaiHi 
so was the slave once a child in his father's house. 

181. Birth does not differ from birth; as the fn 
nmn was born so was the slave. 

I'.iT}. You find a hen in the market and hasten i 
buy her. Had she been worth keeping the own« 
would not have sold her. 

(This 

i said i 

warning lo nnj nifiii who is about to buy a femaU 
slave) 

PROVERBS. 229 

136. He who gathers locust-fruit spends t^ money 
of death. 

(Is used to check rashness. The wood of the locost-tree breaks easily, 
and this prorerb contemplates a man perched on a lofty limb to 
pick the fniit.) 

137. A hunchback is never asked to stand up 
straight. 

(That is, no one expects the impossible.) 

138. He who has only an eyebrow for a bow can 
never kill an animal. 

139. You cannot kill game by looking at it. 

140. When the hawk hovers the fowl-owner feels 
uneasy. 

141. No one carrying elephant-beef on his head 
should look for crickets undergroimd. 

(Elephant-beef here means tlie food of the rich, and crickets that of 
the poor. The saving means that the rich should not stoop to 
petty gains.) 

142. No one should draw water from the spring in 
order to supply the river. 

(This means that no poor man should stint himself in order to make 

presents to the rich.) 

143. The glutton, having eaten his fill, then calls 
his companions to come also. 

144. If you are not able to build a house at once, 
you first build a shed. 

145. If one has not an adan (a large kind of bat), 
one sacrifices an ode (small bat). 

(Nos. 144 and 145 mean " Do your best.") 

146. If one is carrying water, and it gets spilt, so 

JSO THE YOnVnA.SrF.AKJXG PEOPLF.f;. 

long as the calabash is not broken one can still get 
more. 

(Is us^I lo eiicoumgp those who think a disaster incparsble,) 

147. No SMuff-seller likes to own that she sells had 
tobacco, but all profess to sell tobacco as sweet as 
honey. 

(" No one cries stinking fish.") 

Ii8. The f.<!»o (gazelle), claiming relationship witli 
the ekttlu (a large antelope), says his mother was tbe 
daughter of an ekulu, 

149. If you abvise the etu, you make the head of 
the aivo ache. 

(The etu and the ntm arc two varieties of guinea-foirl. The proTeiti 
in«nns that people do uot like to hear their relations badW spoken 

Of.) 

160. He runs away from the sword and hides him- 
self in the scabbard. 

(1W MBWflre to onr " Ont of the frying-pan into the fire," as til* 
Bword will return to tlie scabbard.) 

IM. Thp sword shows no respect for its maker. 
1*2. The spoon, seeing death, ventures his bead 

OKM 6^ iftio the builing Hniil. Tlic proverb is used to ohec^ 
roshness.) 

^Wl. Xftw the agheji has saved men from starving, 
^ % ^9£4(i^t only tit to be cut into a common cala- 

t|^hlk^|tl|k  THJC YORUBA-SPKAKiy<: rKOPLES. 

The two following are examples of a play of 
different sort : — 

(1) The cry of the squirrel sounds like the word 
korokoro, whence " It was the squirrel's own mouth 
that betrayed her, for when she had brought forth 
two young ones she carried them to the roadside and 
said, " My children are very sound, very sound, very 
sound " [Oim mi ije korol'oro, korokoro, korokoro.) 

(2) The cry of the bush-fowl (partridge) reserableB 
the words kild om, " nothing but fat " ; hence thft 
saying, " With its mouth the bush-fowl declares it* 
fatness, crying, ' Nothing but fat ! Nothing hat 
fat.' " [Kiki-ora '. Kiki-ora.) 

Riddles are sufficiently common, but few of theri 
are good. The following are examples : — 

Q. A small confined room, with hardly anythii^ 
in it but pegB. 

A. The mouth, with the teeth. 

Q. An associate who cannot be tamed. 

A. Fire. 

Q. There is no market in which the dove with th 
prominent breast has not traded. 

A. The cowry. 

Q. A hen that has many chickens. 

A. The Milky Way. 

Q. I am long and slim, I am engaged in commerce, 
and yet I never reach the market. 

A. The canoe (which carries the goods but stopi 
at the landing-place).

FOLK-LOBK TALES. 

Fbf. Yoruba folk-lore tales are very numerous. The 
word now commonly xiaed to mean one of these 
popular fables is ah, which more properly means a 
riddle, or something invented, literally something 
twisted, or inverted. A reciter of tales, called an 
akpalo (kpa-alo) " maker of alo" is a personage 
highly esteemed, and in great demand for social 
gatherings. Some men, indeed, make a profession of 
story-telling, and wander from place to place reciting 
tales. Such a man is termed an akpalo kpatUa, " one 
who makes a trade of telling fables." As among the 
Ewe tribes, the professional story-teller very often 
uses a drum, with the rhythm of which the pauses in 
the narrative are filled up. When he has gathered an 
audience around him, he cries out, "My alo is about 
so-and-so," mentioning the name of the hero or 
heroine of the tale; or "My alo is about a man (or 
woman) who did so-and-so," and, after this preface, 
proceeds with the recital, The professional story- 
teller must not be confounded with the arokin, or 
narrator of the national traditions, several of whom 
are attached to each king or paramount chief, and 
who may be regarded as the dejiositaries of the 

2i4: THE YORVBA-SPEAKIXG PEOPLES. 

ancient chronicles. The chief of the arokin ia a 
councillor, bearing the title of Ologho " one who 
possesses the old times," and a proverb says " Ohgbo 
baba arokin " " Ologho is the father of chroniclers." 

My alo is about a woman whose little girl made 
palm-oil. 

One day when she had made palm-oil she took it to 
the market to sell. 

She stayed in the market selling her palm-oil until 
it was quite dark. And when it was dark, a goblin' 
came to her to buy palm-oilj and paid her "with some 
cowries. 

When the little girl counted the cowries she found 
that there was one short, and she asked the goblia 
for the cowry that was wanting. 

The goblin said that he had no more cowries, and 
the little girl began crying, " My mother will beat 
me if I go home with a cowry short." 

The goblin walked away, and the little girl walked 
after him. 

" Go away," said the goblin; "turn back, for no 
one can enter the country where I live." 

"No," said the little girl; "wherever you go I 
will follow, until yoit pay me my cowry." 

So the little girl followed, followed a long, long 
way, till they came to the country where the people 
r heads in their mortars and pound yams 

stand on thei 

with their heads. 

' /ifi'n, goblin, siiirit, ghost. 

A 

FOLK-LORE TALES. 245 

Then they went on again a long way, and they came 
to a river of filth. And the goblin sang : — 

** Oh ! young palm-oil seller, 
Yon mast now turn back/* 

And the girl sang : — 

" Save I get my cowry, 
ril not leave your track." 

Then the gobUn sang again :— 

" Oh ! young palm-oil seller. 
Soon will lead this track, 
To the bloody river, 
Then you must turn back." 

And she :• 

And he :- 

" I will not turn back." 

" See yon gloomy forest ? " 

And she : — 

** I will not turn back." 

And he : — 

** See yon craggy mountain ? " 

And she : — 

" I will not turn back. 
Save I get my cowry 
ril not leave your track." 

Then they walked on again, a long, long way; and at 
last they arrived at the land of dead people. 

The goblin gave the little girl some palm-nuts, 
with which to make palm-oil, and said to her : " Eat 
the palm-oil and give me the ha-ha* 

• ffa-ha, the stringy remains of the pulp of the nut after the oil 
has been expressed. 

riiK ynncjiA'.^PKAK/xa peoplk.-^. 

But wlien the palm-oil was made the little girl 
it to tlic goblin, and eat the ha-ha herself, and the 
goblin said, " Very well." 

By-and-by tlie goblin gave a banana t-o the little 
girl, and said : " Eat this banana, and give me the 
skin." But the little girl peeled the banana and gave 
it to the goblin, and eat the skin herself. 

Then the goblin said to the little girl : " Go and 
pick three ados.* Do not pick the ados which cry 
' Pick rae, pick me, pick me,' but pick those which 
say nothing, and then return to your home. When 
you are half-way back break one ado, break another 
when you are at the house-door, and the third when 
you are inside the bouse." And the little girl said, 
"Very well." 

She picked the ados as she was told, and returned 
home. 

When she was half-way she broke one ado, and 
behold, many slaves and horses appeared, and followed 
her. 

When she was at the house-door, the little girl 
broke the second ado, and behold, many creatures 
appeared, sheep, and goats, and fowls, more than two 
hundred, and followed her. 

Then, when she had entered the house, the little 
girl broke the last ado, and at once the bouse was 
tilled to overflowing with cowries, which poured out 
of the doors and windows. 

The mother of the little girl took twenty country- 
cloths, twenty strings of valuable beads, twenty sheep 

• The alio is a very sninll cnlnbnsli, coniinonly used for keeping 
itieilicinnl |io>Vilprs in. 

Fdf.K-LORF. TALES. 247 

and goats, and twenty fowls, and went to make a 
present to tte head wife.* 

The bead wife asked whence all these things came, 
and when she had been told, she refused to accept 
tbem. She said she would send her own child to do 
the same, and that she could easily get as much.'!' 

Then the head wife made palm-oil, and gave it to 
her own little girl, and told her to go and sell it in 
the market. 

The little girl went to the market. The goblin 
came, bought palm-oil of her, and paid her with 
cowries. He gave the proper number of cowries, but 
the little girl hid one and pretended that he had not 
given her enough. 

" "What am I to do ? " said the goblin, " I have no 
more cowries." 

" Oh," said the little girl, " I will follow you to 
your house, and then you can pay me." 

And the goblin said : " Very well." 

Then the two walked together, and presently the 
goblin began singing, as he had done the first time. 
He sang ; — 

" Oh ! joung palm-oil seller. 
You must now turn buck." 

• Head wife, fi/ale (lyii-ile. Mistress of ihe House). As already 
explained, the sulwrdinatc wives, oF wliich the mother of the girl in 
the story was one, nre called lya-wo. 

t From the European point of view this would appear to be n gooil 
trait on the part of the it/ole, for the inference would be tliat she did 
not wish tMV^i^* tliroe of them. 

't^H thp goblin said to her, " When you are half- 
%ihw b^NWto break one ado ; when you are at the door 
bt^Mk *m>lhor; and break the third when you are 
<ii*tvW tho* Wuse." 

UHtK««Y homo the little girl broke one ado, and 

J 

FOLK-LORE TALES. i49 

behold, numbers of lions, and leopards, and hyenas, 
and snakes, appeared. They ran after her, and 
harassed her, and bit her till she reached the door 
of the house. 

Then she broke the second ado, and behold, more 
ferocious animals came upon her and bit her and tore 
her at the door. The door was shut, and there was 
only a deaf person in the house. The little girl 
called to the deaf person to open the door, but he 
heard her not. And there, upon the threshold, the 
wild beasts killed the little girl. 

My alo is about a poor young woman.* 

There was a poor young woman who had a child. 
She was so poor that she could not even buy a cloth 
to wear, and her child was held on her back with a 
plantain-leaf. 

The poor young woman used to go into the forest 
to cut fire-wood to sell. One day she went there as 
usual. There was a tall tree, and under it she put 
down her child to sleep in the shade. 

Now in this tree there was an aranran,^ and while 
the young woman was cutting fire-wood, the aranran 
seized the child, and carried it up into the tree. 

When the young woman had made up her bundle 
of wood, she came back to the place where she had 
left her child, and could not find it. 

• This story is also about the discomfiture of an ii/ale, which is a 
faToarit« theme. The plot resembles the foregoing. 
^ Aranran, a bird of prey ; probably from ra, to hover. 

250 TIIK yORVliA-SPKAKlNa I'EOPl.ES. 

She looked everywhere, but still could not 6nd it, 
and she ran to-and-fro, crying bitterly. 

At last she looked up, and then she saw her chiL 
in the claws of the aranrau, high up in the tree-topi 
And she began to sing: — 

" Ariinriin, e!'/e igbo, igbo,' 
Give ine linck my cliild, oh, ighn. 
Here is a rope of tie'tie,f it/bo ; 
Qlli<^kly let luy child dowoi igbo,' 

When the young woman had sung this, 
aranran threw down to her a bag of coral beads. 

The young woman ran to the bag and opened it, 
but her cliild was not in it, so she threw the bag 
down and sang again ; — 

" Aranran, fiye igbo, I'gbo, 
Gire me hack my cbildi nh, igba. 
Here is a rope of tic-tie, igbo ; 
Quickly let my child down, igio." 

Then the aranran took all kinds of valuable pro- 
perty, and threw them down to her. And the mother 
looked here and looked there as the things fell, but 
her child was still not there, so she sang again, the 
same song, a third time. 

Then the aranran took the child and flew down 
with it and placed it gently on the ground. 

The young woman ran to her child, took him up, 

• Eiye, bird; igbo, foreat, biieli. Honce eiye igbo answers In oar 
" wild bird." TLe native words are here retninoil in order to preserve 
the rhythm. 

t Tie-tie is an Anglo- African term for tliu varioiis kinde of 
parasitical vinos which are used as subBtitiiteB for cord. They Br» 
sometimes called " bn ah -rope." 

FOLK-LORE TALES. 251 

and put him on her hack. She picked up also all 
the things that the aranran had thrown down to her. 
And from being poor, she now became rich. 

After returning home the young woman took 
twenty strings of coral beads, and went to oflFer them 
to the iyale ; but the iyale^ when she learned how the 
young woman had come by the beads, refused them. 

The iyale took a child belonging to one of the other 
wives and carried it into the bush. She put it under 
the tree of the aranran^ and went away to cut wood. 

But while she was away cutting wood the aranran 
carried off the child, and killed and ate it. 

When the iyale returned to the foot of the tree, and 
could not find the child, she began to sing, as the 
young woman had done : — 

" Aranran, eiye igbo, igboj 
Give me back mj child, oh, igbo. 
Here is a rope of tie-tie, igbo ; 
Quickly let my child down, igbo'^ 

Then the aranran voided copiously into a bag, tied up 
the neck of the bag, and threw it down. 

The iyale ran to the bag, picked it up, and untied 
it. She found it full of filth, and she threw it away. 
Then she sang again, as before. 

This time the aranran made water in a large cala- 
bash, and let it fall, so that it broke upon the woman's 
head. And the iyale sang a third time : — 

** Aranran, eiye, igbo, igbo, 
Give me back my child, oh, igbo. 
Here is a rope of tie-tie, igbo ; 
Qaickly let my child down, igbo,^* 

i:,i THE ronUBA-SPEAKIXG PEOPLES. 

Then the arawan took up the bones of the child and 
threw them down at her. 

The iijnie ran and looked at the bones of the child, 
and she cried out, " This is not my child. It is the 
child of another woman that this bird has killed, 
believing it to be mine." And she went away. 

Wlien she reached home, the mother of the child 
came t*» the t,i/n/<' for her little one. And the iyah 
said that the child was quit« well, but was not with 
her. 

Many times the mother came to ask for her child, 
and when tlirw months had passed and the child had 
not been restored to her, she carried the case before 
the king. 

She told the king all that had taken place, that the 
iyale had taken the child from her hands, and, though 
three months had passed, had not yet brought it back. 

The king summoned the n/ale to his court, and 
askini her, " What have you done with the child ? 
Where is it?" And the iijale answered, "What do 
yv* suppose I should do with it ? " 

Tb«n the king said to the people who were 
M^iWtthk^l, " If this woman belonged to you, what 
H***^ Y\>u do with her ? " And all the people replied, 
'* if .-tJw iwlonged to us we would put her to death." 

-Vtt^l tW king said, " Let her then be piit to death." 
AmJi ^ iW iyale was killed. 

in. 
WT^ 1h« ajao remained unhined. 

^ 4<m, • iiaA of fljiDg-fox, or large k 

FOLK-LORE TALES. 253 

The ajao lay in his house very sick, and there was 
no one to tend him. The ajao died. 

The neighbours said, " The ajax) is dead ; we must 
call his relatives to come and perform the funeral 
ceremonies, and bury him." And they went and 
called the birds, saying " Your relation is dead." 

The birds came, and when they saw that the 
deceased was an ajao^ they said, " This is not one of 
our family. All our family wear feathers, and 
you see the ajao has none. He does not belong to 
us." And they went away. 

The neighbours consulted together. They said, 
" The birds are right. The ajao has no feathers, and 
is not of the family of birds. He must be of the 
family of rats." And they went and called the rats, 
saying, " Your relation is dead." 

The rats came, but when they saw that the deceased 
was an ajao they also denied him. They said, " This 
is not one of our family. Everyone who is of our 
family has a tail, and you see the ajao has none." 
And they went away. 

Thus the ajao^ having no relations, remained 
unburied.* 

IV. 

My alo is something about a certain king. 

One day the king called all the birds to come and 
clear a piece of ground. But he forgot to call Icini- 
kini.f 

* See Proverb 179. 

I A small black and white bird, sometimes called the doctor-biixl. 
It is named from its cry, which resembles the words kini-kini. 

THE YOliVnA-SPEAKINd FEOPJ.Eti. 

All tlie birds came. They set to work, and they 
cleared a large piece of ground. 

In the middle oE the piece of ground was an otiaii- 
tree.* At mid-daj, when the aun was hot, and all 
the birds had left their work for the day, kini-kini 
came and perched on the odan-tree, and began to 
sing:— 

" Tlie king seut to invite my companion a, 

Kini-hni. 
He assembled nil the children of the folk vitli wings, 
A'lni-jfcini. 
Grow grflse, sprout bush, 

A'lni-iinF, 
Como, let 119 go to the hou^e, 

Kini^ktTii, 
And tlierfl wo can dance the baUi, 

If the bala n 

1 not SI 

e will dance the thmdun, 

Kini-kini. 
I ive will dance the 'jangan,^ 

Next morning, when the birds came to work, they 
found the ground they had cleared all grown over 
with grafts and bush. They went and told the king. 
The king said, " That is nothing; clear it again." 

• Odiin, a variety of _/&:««, which is planted in streets and opon 
spaces SB a elmile-troe. 

'f Bala, diimlim, and yangan, arc the names of different kind 
ilmuis. The ImiUi \b a tall drum, the diindun is hung witli little bella, 
and the gangun is properly a war-drum. These names are onomato- 
pceic. Each drum has its own measure and rhythm, and jicoplc say 
"to dance the hnta, to dance the dundun, or to dance the gungan,"^ 
just as we say, " to dance a mdtz, l(< dniice a polka, or to dance & 
iluadriUe." 

FOLK-LORE TALES. 

The birds went to work and cleared it again, and at 
mid-day went away. The kini-lcinl came back and 
sang his song again, and again the grass and bush 
sprang up. 

Next day the birds, when they saw what had 
happened, went and informed the king. " No 
matter," said the king, "clear the ground again." 

A third time the birds cleared the ground and went 
away, and a third time the k'mi-lcini came and sang 
so that the grass and bush sprang up. 

The next day, when the birds found the ground 
covered with bush, they went to the king. They 
asked the king to give them authority to seize the 
person who had played this trick. The king said, 
" Very well." 

Then all the birds went back to the piece of ground; 
they put a great quantity of birdlime on the odo.ii- 
tree; then they went home. 

Next morning they came and cleared the groimd 
again, and at mid-day went and hid in the bush 
close by. 

The A-ii(i-/t(/(i came and perched on the odaji. He 
sang his song, and the grass and bush grew up. Then 
he wanted to fly away, but he found himself held by 
the bii'dlime. 

Then all the birds flocked to the tree and saw the 
kinl-lcini. They seized him and brought him to the 
king. They said to the king, "Behold the one who 
has caused us so much trouble." 

The king made the k'mi-klni come near. "What 
have I done to you," he asked, "that you should act 
thus ? " The kini-kmi said, " When you called all 

lA&i 

25(5 THE TORUBA-SPEAKING PEOPLES. 

my companions to clear the ground you left me out, 
therefore I havo reveugecl myself." 

When the king heard this, he raised his hand to 
give the kini-lcini a slap. 

" Pardon, pardon," said the kini'hini, " If I find 
any cowries I will give them to you. When I get 
any kola-nuts I will bring them to you." 

The king gave the bird a slap, and the kini-km 
voided out cowries till the room was filled. 

" What is this ? " said the king, much astonished, 
and he raised his hand again to give the kini-Mm a 
elap. 

" I beg pardon," said the bird. " If I find any 
cowries I will give them to you. When I get any 
kola-nuts I will bring them to you." 

The king gave him a slap, and the kini-kmi voided 
from his body still more cowries than the first time. 

The king sent messengers through all the country 
and summoned all his people to assemble on the fiftli 
day, to see a marvel. All the people promised 
come. 

Then the king put the kini-kini in a basket. 3 
covered the top of the basket and went out. Bj 
little son, who wanted to give the kini-kini a sla^ 
himself, uncovered the basket, and the bird flc 
away. 

When the king came home he went to the baskf 
He found no bird in it, and ho called his soft 
" Where is the kini-kini? " he asked. 

The little boy answered that he had gone to play, 
with it, and tliat the bird had flown away. The kin| 
took the little boy and beat him. He beat him — he beaf 

FOLK-LOltK TALES. 257 

him, and, in his anger, be cut off one of his ears. 
" Go quick," he said, " Go quick, and find the bird." 
He pushed him out of the house. 

The boy made a little drum, and went on the road 
to the bush. He sat down in a place in the bush 
where the birds were accustomed to come. He began 
to beat on his di-um, and the drum said : — 

" TinliH, tinliki, tinli — pmn. 
Tinli— puru." 

All the birds flocked round, and each danced in 
turn. When it came to the turn of the kini-kini 
to dance, the klni-kmi did not want to dance. 
All the birds begged him to dance, but he 
refused. 

Then the boy played quicker on the drum. He 
beat, and beat, and beat, while all the birds begged 
the kini-kini. 

At last the kini-kini began to yield. He twisted 
here and he twisted there. He flew three times 
round the head of the little boy. The boy continued 
beating as if he had not noticed anything, and the 
kini-kini began to dance. 

He turned here and twisted there. He turned, 
and twisted, and turned, till he came quite close up 
to the drum. Then the little boy thrust out his 
hand and seized the kini-kini by the leg. All the 
other birds flew away. 

The boy brought the kini-kini to his father. " I 
have caught him," he said. "Here he is. Won't 
you do something now to restore my ear ? " 

Then the king got up. He took a dead leaf and 

put it in the place of tlie ear. And the dead leaf 
softened and changed into an ear. 

"We now come to those tales which may be called 
"Tortoise Stories," since the tortoise {awon) always 
plays a leading part in them. The tortoise has, in 
these tales, various superhuman powers attributed 
to him, and, in most, is described as acting craftily 
or mischievously. He, in fact, fills in the folk-lore 
tales of the Slave Coast the place of the spider 
{anansi) in the tales of the Gold Coast, and which 
are in consequence known as Anansi 'scm {Anan^ 
asem,), " Spider Stories." In these the spider is 
always depicted as showing great skill and crafty 
and, like the minor gods, is represented as speaking 
through the nose. 

The names Tortoise and Spider are in these stories 
used as the proper names of anthropomorphic per- 
sonages, and among the Tshi tribes the latter is called 
Ajija Ana7i8i, " Father Spider," or " Father Anansi." 
Thus, the Yoruba proverbial saying, Eji Awott ko km 
ni li owo, used to convey the meaning that a matter 
which at first sight appears insignificant may really^ 
be one of great importance, should not be translated 
" The blood of the tortoise is not a handful " (literally,, 
"does not fill a hand"), but "the blood oi Awon 
(the mythical personage, or anthropomorphic tortoise) 
"is not a handful." An epithet of the tortoise ia 
a/opa, "bald-headed elf," or " hairless elf " (<y"a, elf j 
pa, to be bald or bare). The flickering appoaranc^ 
seen near the ground on sultry days is called " tortoise- 
fire," and is believed to be caused by a subterraneait 

FOLK-LOUK TA/.ES. 

fire made by the tortoise to destroy tlie roots of trees. 
The tortoise appears in several proverbial sayings, 
as *'Tho tortoise (or Aioon) is always the subject of 
an alo " (tale), and " The house of the tortoise is not 
large enough for itself. The verandah " (that is, that 
part of the shell which projects over the tail) " of 
a tortoise will not accoramodate a guest. The 
tortoise, having built its house, makes the verandah 
behind it ; " while " As the tortoise meets with due 
regard, so also should the snail," seems to indicate 
that the tortoise is regarded with reverence or respect. 
It is possible that totemism lies at the root of these 
phenomena. On the Gold Coast there is a tradition 
that all mankind are descended ft'om Anansii and on 
the Slave Coast the figure of the tortoise is frequently- 
seen carved on the doors of temples, together with the 
leopard, serpent, and a fish. On the whole, however, 
it seems more probable that the peculiarities which 
make the spider and the tortoise each in its own way 
remarkable, have led to their selection for the chief 
rule in the popular fables. The tales being largely 
about animals, those creatures which most excited 
wonder and speculation in the minds of the natives 
would be the ones to which the most wonderful 
attributes would be ascribed ; and, in the case of the 
spider, the ingenuity and patience displayed by it in 
the construction of its web would be attributed to the 
anthropomorphic spider of the stories. There is at 
the present time no spider-clan among the totem- 
clans of the Grold Coast, and, as the communities 
of the Gx)Id Coast are heterogeneous, wo cannot 
suppose that an entire clan has become extinct, unless 

SeO rilE YOnUBA-SPEAKliXG PEOPLES. 

the extinction took place in the remote past whoi 
communities were homogeneous ; in which caa 
tlicro seems no sufficient reason for the memory ( 
the totem-ancostor being preserved, after the dis 
appearance of all those who were supposed to b( 
descended from him. 

Tortoise Stories. 
I. 

My alo is something about a woman named Olu. 

Olii had a son named Sigo, and Sigo determine* 
to be a hunter. 

His father gave him a horse, his mother gave hil 
a sheep, and they told him to go and hunt. So Sig( 
took his bow and arrows, mounted the horse, and rod 
away into the bush. 

He travelled a long way, and at last arrived at th 
haunt of animals. 

Then the sky became overcast, and it grew so dar 
that Sigo could scarcely see. Soon the rain poured in, 
torrents. It fell so heavily that Sigo was washed by. 
the water into a deep gully. He tried to get out, bu 
could not, and remained there weeping and lamentinjf. 

The rain ceased, and Tortoise, always on the look 
out for opportunities, came to the giilly. 

Sigo saw him, and stretched his neck up to thi 
blink of the gully. " Hi ! Tortoise ! Oh ! bald 
headed elf ! Hi ! " he cried. 

Tortoise came and leant over the edge of the gult 
to see who was calling him. " Wliat are you doin( 
there ? " he said. " The flood of the rain washed i 
in here," said Sigo. 

FOLK-LORE TALES. - 261 

€t 

What will you give me if I pull you out?'* 
asked Tortoise. " I will be your slave," replied 
Sigo. " Very well," said Tortoise, the bald-headed 

elf. 

Tortoise climbed down into the gully and took Sigo 
out. He said to him, " I am going to make a large 
drum, and shall put you inside it. When we come 
to any house, and I begin playing on the drum, take 
care that you sing well." " I understand," said 
Sigo. 

When he reached the town in which he lived. 
Tortoise, the bald-headed elf, went to the king and 
boasted of the fine sound of his drum. The king 
ordered Tortoise to bring the drum and beat it in his 
presence, so that he could hear the sound. 

" Very well," said Tortoise ; *' send and call all 
the town to the dance." *' Very good," said the king, 
and he sent all through the town to invite the people 
to come and dance. 

When all the people had assembled the king sent 
to call the bald-headed elf. The bald-headed elf took 
his drum, and came into the midst of the assembly. 
He beat the drum with the stick, and the drum 
sounded, saying: — 

^* Sigo 18 the son of Olu ;• 

Ah ! let me be rescued. 
His mother gave him a sheep, and told him to go and hunt ; 

Ah ! let me be rescued. 
His father gave him a horse, and told him to go and hunt ; 

Ah ! let me be rescued. 

• There is perhaps some pun in this. Olu means a clapper, or 
anything to strike with, and Hit means a drum. 

! TUE YOIIUDA-SPEAKIXG PEOPLES. 

Liiten to what 1 say. llu went lo tho elepliant's linunt ; 

Ah ! let mc be rc-scuei]. 
LibUu to what I sny. Ho went to the buffalo's lair; 

Ah ! let mo be rrscaod. 

The flood of the rain wn^heil him into the cloft; 

All ! let uie !« rescued. 
And su he liecnmc the Tortoise's slave : 

Ah ! let mo he rescned." 

The people were much astonished, and elappedj 
their hands to their mouths in wonder. The king 
told Tortoise to beat the drum again, and let him. 
hear once more. 

Tortoise beat his drum a second time, and the 
people cried out aloud at the marvel. Then Tortoiaft 
returned home. 

Before long the mistresses of the house to which 
Sigo belonged came to Tortoise, and asked him to 
come and beat his drum at a dance they were about to 
have. The bald-headed elf said " Very good." Ho' 
took his drum and he went there. 

When he arrived the wives made ready some gmel^ 
of Indian corn,* and bought some rum. They asked 
Tortoise to beat his drum. Tortoise beat his drum, 
and the drum sang : — 

" 8igo IB the son of Olu; 

Ah 1 let me he rescncd. 
His mother gave him a sheep, and told hiin to go and hunt; 

Ah 1 let me be rescued. 
His father gave him a horse, and told him to go and hunt ; 

I {listen to wliat I say. He went to the eiepliant's hannt 

rescued, 
rescued, 

FOLK-LORE TALKS. 2G3 

Listen to That I tay. He went to the buffalo's lair; 

Ah ! let me be rescaod. 
The &00A of the rain vraghed him into the cleft; 

Ah ! let me be rescaed. 
And so he became the Tortoise's slave j 

Ah ! let me be resoned." 

They gave Tortoise to eat. Tortoise ate. They 
gave him rum to drink. He drank, and, becoming 
drunk, fell asleep. 

When Tortoise was asleep they took his drum. 
They took off the drum-head, and took Sigo out. 
Then they put the head back as it was before. 

When he awoke, Tortoise took his drum and began 
beating on it. A crow croaked in the drum. Tortoise 
beat harder and quicker, and the crow croaked louder 
and louder. He cried, as loud as he could, " Why, 
when you were eating, did you not give something to 
eat to the drum? Why, when you were drinking, did 

rt you give some of the rum to the drum ? " 
Tortoise went home. He took off the drum-head, 
' and found a crow in the drum. 

r My aJo is something about a certain king. 

The king had a daughter who was dumb. The 
girl's name was Bola. 

Tiie king did all he could to make his daughter 
speak. All that he did was of no avail, so he did not 
keep the girl in the town ; he sent her into the 
country. 

Tortoise, of the thousand cunning tricks, came to 

264 THE YORUBA'SPEAKiyG PEOPLES. 

the king and said to him, " What will you give me if 
I make your child speak ? " "I will divide my house 
into two halves/' said the king, "and I will give you 
one half." 

The bald-headed elf went and bought a bottle of 
honey, and came to the bush, where the girl was 
living. He put the honey on the ground and went 
and hid himself. 

The girl came and saw the bottle of honey and put 
out her hand to it. 

Tortoise came out of his hiding-place, came behind 
the girl, and gave her a slap, crying, " Thief ! So it 
is you who steal my honey and eat it." 

" I ? " said the young girl. " I have stolen your 
honey to eat ? I ? " 

Then Tortoise, the crafty, tied her with a rope, and 
sang : — 

" Bola stole honey to eat ; 

Kat/in, Kayin,* 
Bola is a cunning cheat ; 

Kayin, Kayin, 
Bola is a shameless thief ; 

Kayin, Kayin,^^ 

When Tortoise sung this, the young girl sang : — 

'^ Into the wood of the elephant I went with the elephant ; 

Kaytiiy Kayin, 
Into the wood of the buffalo I went with the buffalo ; 

Kayiuj Kayin, 
And Tortoise has come to accuse me of stealing honej to eat ; 

Kayin, Kayin" 

Tortoise, the mischievous, led the young girl back to 

♦ Kayin (Jca-iyin), to celebrate, or sing the praises of. 

■■^^^H FOLK-LORE TALES. 265 

the town. He was singing his song, and she was 
answering with her song. In this manner they 
arrived before the king, wlio cried ont with astonish- 
ment, " My daughter, who has never been heard to 
speak, speaks to-day ! " 

The king divided his palace in half, and gave one 
half to Tortoise, the bald-headed elf. 

I That is how Tortoise succeeds in everythincf. 
,„ 
My alo is about Tortoise and the elephant. 

The bald-headed elf one day told the other animals 
that he would ride the elephant, but all the animals 
said : " No, you can't ride the elephant." 

The bald-headed elf said : " Well, I will make a 
wager that I will ride the elephant into town." And 
the other animals agreed to the wager. 

Tortoise went into the forest and met the elephant. 
He said to him : " My father, all the animals say you 
are too stout and big to come to town." 

The elephant was vexed. He said : " The animals 
are fools. If I do not come to town it is because I 
prefer the forest. Besides, I do not know the way to 
town." 

" Oh ! " said the bald-headed elf, " then come with 
me. I will show you the way to the town, and yoii 

^can put all the animals to shame." 
So the elephant followed him. 
When they were near the town the bald-headed 
elf said : " My father, I am tired. AVill you kindly 
allow me to get on your back." 

ur, 

THE rO!iLrBA-SPEAICI.\'G PEOPLES. 

" All right," said the elephant. He knelt down, 
and Tortoise climbed up on hia back. Then they 
went on along the road. 

The bald-headed elf said: "My father, when 
scratch your back you must run, and when I knock 
my bead against your back you ranst run faster ; then 
you will make a fine display in the town." Tho 
elephant said : " Very well." 

When they came near the town, tho bald-headed elf 
scratched the elephant's back, and he began to run. 
He knocked his back with his head, and the elephant 
ran faster. 

The animals, when they saw this, were frightened. 
They went into their houses, but they looked out of 
their windows. And Tortoise called out to them s 
" Did I not say I would ride my father's slave ta 
town ? " 

"What do you mean by 'your father's slave'?" 
said the elephant, growing angry. 

" I am only praising you," said Tortoise. 

But the elephant saw the other animals laughing, 
and grew more angry, " I will throw yon down on 
the hard stones here, and break you to pieces," ho 
cried. 

"Yes, yes, that is right," said the bald-beadcd ell, 
" Throw me down here. That will be all right. Then 
I shall not die ; then I shall not be hurt. If yoi 
really want to kill me, you ought to carry me to i 
swamp. There I shall die at once, for the mud an^ 
water will drown me." 

Tho elephant believed the bald-headed elf. 
ran to tho swamp, and threw Tortoise into the mm 

FOLK-LORE TALES. 2C7 

Then he stretched out his foot to kick him, but the 
bald-headed elf dived in the mire, and came up in 
another place. 

The other animals were there, looking on, and 
Tortoise called out to them, " Did I not say I 
would ride my father's slave to town ? " 

When the elephant found that he could not catch 
the bald-headed elf, he ran away at full speed back 
to the forest. 

When he reached there he said to the other ele- 
phants, " Do you know what that broken-back * has 
done to me ? " And he told them the story. 

The other elephants said, " You were a fool to carry 
that broken-back to town." 

Since then the elephant has not come to town any 
more. 

rv. 

My alo is about a woman named Adun . 

Adun was very beautiful, and all the men wanted 
her. They were always entreating her, but she always 
refused. 

One market-day a person borrowed legs from one, 
arms from another, and a body from a third. He 
joined all together, and went to the market. He 
wanted Adun, and he would have her. 

His appearance pleased Adun, and they talked 
together. Although he belonged to a distant country, 
she consented to go with him. She took him to the 

* An epithet of the tortoise. It probably refers to the notched 
appearance of the back. 

mi: YOnUliA-.SPKAKlNG PEOPLES. 

house and showed him to her motbera.* Her inotlierSH 

They 1 

' Very well, go with him.' 

of 

T went. On the road, the master o; 
took away the legs, the mast-er of the arras took away 
the arras, and the master of the body took away the 
body. Nothing was left but the head. And the head 
went on, on, while Adun, nearly dead with fear, could 
not run away. 

They arrived at the house of the head. 

Next morning, before he went to work in hit 
plantation, the head said to Tortoise, " If Adun tria 
to run away, sound the horn to warn me." 

The head had scarcely gone out of sight when Ado] 
took her bundle, and began to run away. 

Then Tortoise sounded the horn. " Head, head,' 
he cried, " Adun is going. She has tied up ha 
calabashes, she has gathered her dishes." 

The head ran up aud made big round eyes. " When 
are you going ? " he asked. "I am going to relievo 
nature," t said Adun. " You are running away," 
said the head. 

Every day Adun tried to run away, but withoi 
success. Then she went to ask the liuhalairo whi 
she should do. 

The hahalatro said, " Go and buy some ehimts.\ 
Buy plenty of them. Soak them in palm-oil, an^ 

• The wivea in tl;e bonsehokl. 

■f Tlie orilinnry cxniBc of a native wliri Las no pretext ready, 

X Ekuru is a take niaile of tlie Hour of a wliite bean called ere. 

IS very dry, and a proveibiitl tnyiiig, said of a tcdions TJaitor, nni| 

" He cbokes inc like ekui-v." 

FOr.K-LOUE TALES. 

26!l 

stuff them into Tortoiso's horn." "Very good," said 
Adun. 

She did as she was told. Then she took up her 
bundle and started off. Tortoise took the horn to 
blow it. The ekiiria came into his mouth. He ate, 
ate, ate, and Adun rau away. 

' My alo is about a maiden named Buje, the slender. 

There was a yoiing maiden named Buje, the slender, 
whom all the men wanted. The rich wanted her, but 
she refused. Chiefs wanted, and she refused. The 
king wanted her, and she still refused. 

Tortoise came to the king, and said to him, " She 
whom you all want, and cannot get, I will get. I will 
have her, I." And the king said, "If you succeed 
in having her, I will divide my palace into two halves 
and will give you one half." 

One day, Buje, the slender, took an earthen pot 
and went to fetch water. Tortoise, seeing this, took 
his hoe, and cleared the path that led to the spring. 
He found a snake in the grass, and killed it. Then 
he put the snake in the middle of the path. 

"When Buje, the slender, had filled her pot, she 
came back. She saw the snake in the path, and 
called out " Hi ! hi ! Come and kill this snake." 

Tortoise ran up, with his cutlass in his hand. He 
struck at the snake, and wounded .himself in the 
leg. 

Tlien he cried out " Buje, the slender, has killed 
me. I was cutting tlie bush, I was clearing the path 

*70 THE YORVBA-SPEAKING PEOPLES. 

for her. She called to me to kill the snake, and I 
OKine quickly. Buje, the slender, Biije, the slender, I 
iMire killed the snake, but I have wounded myself in 
[ .^ns leg. Oh, Buje, the slender, Buje, the slender, 
tkke me up on yonr back like a child. Take me up 
on your back and hold me close." 

He cried this many times, and at last Buje, the 
slender, took Tortoise and put him up on her back. 
And then Tortoise slipped his legs down over her 
hips, and violated Buje, the slender, from behind. 

Xext day, as soon as it was light. Tortoise went to 
the king. He said, " Did I not tell you that I would 
have Buje, the slender ? Call all the people of the 
town to assemble on the fifth day, and you will hear 
what I have to say." 

When it was the fifth day, the king sent out his 
crier to call all the people together. The people came. 
Tortoise cried out, " Everybody wanted Buje, the 
slender, and Buje refused everybody, but I have had 
her," 

Tlie king sent a messenger, with his stick, to summon 
Btije, the slender. When she came the king said, 
" We have heard that Tortoise is your husband ; is it 
so V " 

Buje, the slender, was ashamed, and could not 
answer. She covered lier head with her cloth, and 
ran away into the bush. 

And there she was changed into the plant called 
Bujo.* 

• Tliero U 11 version of Uiib story, current among the KnglisL and 
Aliti'iimiia, vtlncit inhkcs Uuje be rnvisbed by a ileformcd man, iustead 
of by thu Tortoiw. It is to be fonnd, I believe, in " Central Africa,"' 

FOLK-LORE TALES. 

My alo is about Tortoise. 

There was a famine, and there was a great scarcity 
of food all through the country. 

One Aaj the lizard was in a plantation searching 
for something to eat, when he found a large rock full 
of yams. 

The owner of the plantation was near the rock. He 
cried " Rock, open," and the rock opened. He went 
in and took yams, and carae out again. Then he said, 
" Rock, shut," and the rock closed up. 

The lizard saw all this. He heard also what the 
man said, and ho went homo. 

Next morning, at cock-crow, he went to the rock. 
He said, " Rock, open," and the rock opened. He 
went in and carried out yams to take home and eat. 
Then he said, " Rock, shut," and the rock shut. 
Every day the lizard did this. 

a work I liave not seen, but wliiub wns written by Mr. Bowen, an 
American Missionary, and pul>ii»lied ut Cliurleetoii, United Slatc-s of 
America, in lt457. All iialires sro agreed tbnt tliis rerslon is incoi' 
rect, and tliat Tortoise was the ravialier, and the only probnlile 
explanation of the mistake seems to be that Mr. liowen lenrnt the 
Btory from a native who spoko French, and eillier confused la lorlue 
with U lorttt, or conclnded that the narrator meant the latter when he 
said the former. If the hearer had never heanl of t!ie mythical 
personage, the anthropomorphic Tortoise, he, thinking it iniposeiblo 
tfaat liuje could be violated hy a tortoise, would very naturally 
BDpposo that the narrator meant to say /e torfu, and erred through an 
inanfficient knuwledge of French. 

The pulp of the fruit of the Buje-shrub turns black when exposed 
to the air, and is used hy the natives to stain the skin in imitation 
of tattooing. It leaves inarka like lamp-black. 

272 THE YOnuiSA-SPEAKlKO PEOPLES. 

One day Tortoise, the bald-headed elf, met tbe 
lizard on tbe road carrying yama. He said to him, 
" Where did you got your food from, comrade ? '' 

The lizard said, "If I were to tell you that, and take 
you to the place, I should be killed." The bald- 
headed elf answered, " No, I will not say a word to 
anyone. Please take me." And the lizard said, 
" Very well, then ; come and call me to-morrow 
morning at cock-crow, and we will go together," 

Next morning, long before cock-crow, Tortoise came 
to the house of the lizard. Ho stood outside the 
house and cried " Cock-a-doodle-do." * Again be 
cried " Cock-a-doodle-do." Then he went in and 
woke the lizard. " The cock has crowed," he said. 

"Let me sleep," said the lizard; "it is not yet 
cock-crow." " Very well," said Tortoise. And they 
both went to sleep till cock-crow. 

Then the lizard got up, and the two went together. 
As soon as they arrived at the place the lizard said, 
" Eock, open," and the rock opened. The Hzai 
went in, took yams, and came out again. 

He said to Tortoise, " It is time to go. Take yoi 
yams and come." " Wait a minute," said Tortoise? 
"Very well," said the lizard. "Rock, shut." And 
he went away without waiting. 

Tortoise, the bald-headed elf, helped himself 
yams. He put yams on his back and yams on 
head; he put yams on his arms and yams on his' 

• In Yorubii, kehtrt-ht, an oiioinutdpoiic woid suiJ[iOKfd t« resemUle I 
tie fi-ow of a cock. It is frum keke, wbich, like <.wt unouiatoiitdej 
word " cackle," mcoua tlio cry of the lien. 

FOLK-LOnK YALK8. -Jja 

iTbe lizard had already gone home. He lighted a 
"fire. Then he lay on his back, with his feet in the air, 
as if he were dead ; and he remained like that 
all day. 

When Tortoise, the bald-headed olf, was ready to 
go, he wanted to make the rook open. Bnt he could 
not remember what he ought to say. He said many, 
many words, but not the right words ; and the rock 
remained shut. 

By-and-bye came the plantation-owner. He opened 
the rock, and found Tortoise inside. He took him 
and beat him. He beat hira badly. 

" Who brought you here ? " asked the man. " It 
was the lizard who brought me," replied Tortoise. 
Then the man tied a string to Tortoise, and took him 
to the lizard. 

When the man reached the house of the lizard, he 
found the lizard lying on his back, with his feet in the 
air, as if he were dead. He shook him. He said to 
him, " This bald-headed elf says it was you who took 
him to my plantation, and .showed him my store of 
yams." 

"I?" said the lizard. "You can see for yourself 
that it is impossible. I am not in a state to go out. 
I have been sick here for three months, lying on my 
back. I do not even know where your plantation 

Then the man took Tortoise and smashed hira. 
And Tortoise, groaning and moaning, said in a pitiful 
voice, " Cockroach, come and mend me. Ant, come 
L mend me." 
nd the cockroach and the ant mended him. And 

274 THE YOEUBA-SPEAKIXG PEOPLES. 

the places where they mended him are those parts of 
Tortoise which are rough.* 

• In this tale, Tortoise's usual cunning fails hira. It is to be 
noted that, whenever he is shown as being over-reached or unsuccessful, 
the want of success is due to greediness — as in the first tale, where he 
eats and drinks till he falls asleep, so that Sigo is rescued from the 
drum ; and in the fourth tale, where he is so busily engaged in eating 
the ekurus placed in the horn, that he forgets to sound it. Here his 
greediness makes him stay behind, to get more yams.

CONCLUSIONS. 

In the preface to the second volume of this series it 
was said that, in collecting information concerning 
the religions of the cognate tribes dealt with, my 
chief purpose was to endeavour to ascertain to what 
extent different conditions of culture led to the 
modifications of religious conceptions. Three groups 
of tribes have now been considered, the Tshi, the 
B\Ve, and the Yoruba, who represent three stages of 
progress, the Tshi being in the lowest stage and the 
Yoruba in the highest. As these tribal groups un- 
doubtedly had a common origin, it is reasonable to 
suppose that the Yoruba tribes were once in the social 
and mental condition in which the Tshi tribes are 
now, and that, in fact, in these groups we find the 
same race in different states of culture. Assuming 
then, as we legitimately may, that the religious beliefs 
of the Ewes are modifications of earlier belief re- 
sembling those now held ))y the Tshis, and that those 
of the Yorubas are similarly modifications of beliefs 
like those now held by the Ewes, we here have an 
opportunity of observing how the evolution of religion 
may proceed. 

Among the Tshi-speaking tribes we found that 

276 TIIK YO.liUllA.f>J-i;AKlN)l VEOVLES. 

everything in nature is believed to be animated — tliat 
ia to say, everything not made by human hands lia.* 
an animating principle, spiritual second-self, or 
indwelling spirit, possessing powers which may '« 
beneficial or prejudicial to man, according to whether 
it ia propitiated or neglected. It seems probable that 
the belief in all nature being thus animat-ed was an 
extension of the belief that man possesses a spiritual 
second-self, or indwelling spirit, which belief is 
beyond dispute tlie result of savage speculation 
concerning dreams. Man, having decided that he 
possessed an indwelling spirit, would extend the same 
possession to animals, then to vegetable life, and 
finally to inanimate nature, partly because he does 
not perceive any strict line of demarcation between 
these, and partly because he as frequently sees the 
phantoms of such things in his dreams as lie does the 
phantoms of living men. He would be led to extend 
the indwelJiug-spirit theory to all nature, because it 
would account for many things that would otherwise 
be incomprehensible, since uncivilised man believes 
that every occurrence is the result of design, and that 
nothing ever happens by accident. The theory that 
a man who is drowned has been drawn down and 
strangled by the water-spirit, seems to him much 
more satisfactory than to suppose that the death was 
the result of chance circumstances. 

All indwelling spirits are, however, not equally 
revered. Those of bushes, grasses, stones, &c., are 
not much regarded, and the most important are those 
of rivers, lagoons, the sea, mountains, i-ocks, and 
8hoala. The reason of this, no doubt, is that no loss 

COKCl.USIONS. 277 

of life or injtiry to person or property can be directly 
connected with a bush, or grasa, or a stone, without, 
at least, the intervention of human agency ; while, 
in the nature of things, men must occasionally be 
drowned in rivers, canoes capsized in the soa, and 
property and life destroyed or injured by flood or 
landslip, or other natural caiises. Timor fecit deos, 
and those natural features and objects which 
experience has shown to be more frequently the 
apparent canse of mishaps, have more regard paid 
to them, or rather to their animating principles, than 
those which have proved to be innocuous. Every 
man worships that from which he has most to fear or 
most to expect, and it is commonly something with 
which he is daily brought into contact. Thus, fisher- 
men pay most attention to the indwelling spirits of 
the sea and of the shoals and reefs on which their 
canoes might be ivi-ecked ; while the agriculturist 
worships the spirit of the stream that flows near his 
dwelling, or that of the cliff or mass of rock which 
overhangs his plantation, and those of the gigantic 
silk-cotton trees, whose downfall so frequently crushes 
to death the inhabitant of the forest. Objects of 
worship are thus local, and are worshipped only by 
those in the neighbourhood. In most cases worship 
and sacrifice are made in the habitat of the spirit, OP 
god, under the boulder of rock, or on the bank of 
the stream or lagoon ; and, as the nature of the god 
is well understood, as he is believed to be the 
indwelling spirit of the rock or the stream, there is no 
need for any myth explanatory of his origin, or for an 
image or tangible representation of hira. This is the 

278 THE 70KUBA-SPEAKIN0 PEOPLES. 

condition in which the great majority of the Tshl 
tribes are at the present day. 

The first change appears to be caused by 
making of an image, or simulacrum, of a god, whu 
has the effect of weakening the tie between the 
indwelling spirit and the object it animates. If the 
image were kept in the habitat of the local god, the . 
connection of the god with the particular rock, cliffy 
or stream would not be lost sight of ; but it would 
serve no useful purpose to keep an image there, sinoa 
the god himself is present, and the only object \a 
making one is to bring the god to some place nearep 
at hand, which will be more convenient for the wors 
shippers, and at the same time bring the protecting 
power more directly into contact with them. To 
effect this removal of a god it is a sine qua non that 
the simulacrum must be made from material obtained 
from the habitat of the god, or be a portion of that 
which he animates. A fragment of rock from a 
boulder inhabited by an indwelling spirit, or a figure 
carved from wood taken from a tree in a grove 
inhabited by a spirit, preserves in the minds of the 
worshippers the subjective connection between the 
fragment and the boulder, or the figure and the 
grove ; and, by a confusion of ideas which is well 
known, he thinks that the objective connection is 
likewise unbroken, and that the god, or spirit, is by 
means of the simidaeri'm brought before him. 

This removal, as it were, of a god from his propi 
dwelling-place, necessarily leads, first, to a weakeninj 
of the tie between the god and that which he animates, 
and, finally, to the nature of the god, as an indwelling 

oy 

peJ 
in^ 

CONCLJJSIOXS. 

spirit of a natural object, being completely lost eight 
of. Let iia imagine, for example, tbat the inhabitants 
of a village who have been in the habit ot worshipping 
the indwelling spirit of a precipitous cliff in the neigh- 
bourhood, come to the conclusion that it would be 
more convenient, and at the same time place them 
more effectually under the protection of tlie spirit, if 
they were to bring him into the village. They 
accordingly make a figm-e of clay taken from the cliff, 
and set it up in the village in a miniature hut erected 
for its protection. This but then becomes the sacred 
place, and the sacrifices and sacred dances are per- 
formed before it, instead of, as heretofore, at the cliff. 
The god, however, is not supposed to have absolutely 
abandoned the cliff, and persons whose avocations 
took them to it would still think it necessary to pro- 
pitiate him with small offerings of food. Practically 
he is believed to be in the cliff and yet also in the 
image in the village, for although a man, if asked to 
explain the seeming impossibility of one and the same 
person being in two places at once, might say that 
the god only entered the image in order to receive the 
offerings and listen to the prayers of the faithful, or 
that the image merely served as an instrument 
through which the god could take cognizance of the 
wants of his followers, yet, as a matter of fact, they 
never seem to think about the matter at all, and it is 
taken for granted by the villagers that the god is in 
their midst. Generations are born and die, and are 
succeeded by others, all of which have been accus- 
tomed to perform religious ceremonies before the 
miniature hut, and the inevitable result is that, sooner 

THE YOmrBA.SPEAKiyt; PEOPLES. 

■wbicli he was 

connection of tlio g^od with the cliff, of i 
animating principle, is completely i 

lost sight of, and he Js regarded as the tutelary deity 
of the village, pure and simple. In this way un- 
doubtedly originated many of the tutelary deities of 
towns and villages on the Gold Coast, for the process 
can be seen going on at the [iresent day- By carr\"- 
ing it a little further, tribal or national gods might Iw 
similarly produced, but, with two or three exceptions, 
the Tshi tribes have not progressed so far as that, and 
most of the gods worshipped by complete tribes are 
simply the indwelling spirits of very remarkable 
natural objects situated in the territories occupied by ■ 
the tribes. 

Besides the gods which arc the animating principles, 
or indwelling spirits of natural features and objects^ 
and wliich we may call nature-gods, we have objecUl 
of worship of another class, which are the product oj 
mnnes-worsbip, and which we may therefore teni 
ghost-gods. The ghosts, or souls of deceased m( 
of rank and power, are supplicated and propitiati 
in the same -why and to the same extent as are tl 
nature-gods, and it is often difficult to decide whe 
the one worship begins and the other ends. 

Manes-worship reaches its fullest development 
the royal houses of Ashanti and Dahomi, that is 
say, in those situations where the conditions are moHl 
favourable for preserving the memory of the wisdoi 
and power of deceased men. In both these houst 
periodical human sacrifices are made on the tomb 
of the former kings, in addition to the daily minr 
offerings of food and drink. We find the san 

rnyPLrSTOxs. 2fil 

concision between objective and subjective connection 
in the case of these ghost-gods as we do in that of 
the natiire-gods ; and the skulls of chiefs and others 
are often exhumed and placed in small temples 
adjoining the dwelling-houses, in the idea that the 
guardian-ghost is thereby brought to the spot. At 
the battle of Dodowah, near Accra, where the Ashantis 
were defeated in 1826, a head, wrapped in a silk 
handkerchief, and covered with a leopard-skin, the 
emblem of royalty, was captured. This was the head 
of the late king, Tutu Kwamina, and his successor 
had brought it with him, in the idea that he would 
thereby be able to obtain the support of the ghostly 
king against his enemies. Before the battle offerings 
were made to it, and the ghost was invoked to cause 
the heads of all the white men in the field to lie 
beside his before night. 

Many tutelary deities of towns, clans, and families 
doubtless owe their origin to manes-worsliip. The 
dead are ordinarily, one might almost say invariably, 
buried in or near to tlie habitations of the living, and 
it is certain that in many cases the habit of offering 
sacrifices at the place of sepulture has been continued, 
simply through habit, long after the fact that a man 
was buried there has been forgotten. In such a 
case, the guardian-ghost being lost sight of, the god 
is simply a tutelary god, whose origin is either unex- 
plained, or which the priests explain in any way that 
may suit them best. We thus have two explanations 
of the origin of tutelary deities. They are either 
nature-gods who have been severed from their proper 
surroundings, or ghost-gods whose origin has been 

282 THE YORFBA-SPKAKmo PEOPLES. 

forgotten, Of course Lhe manes tliemaelvea are 
tutelar, 

Naturo-gods themselves are no doubt in several 
cases blended with ghost-gods. The reverence paid 
to certain rivers, rocks, cliffs, &c., must have often 
dated from some fatal accident that occurred in con- 
nection with them. It was this which first attracted 
attention, and primitive man would not be likely to dis- 
criminate between the ghost of the victim, which would 
haunt the spot where the latter lost his life, and the 
indwelling spirit of the natural feature. Neverthe- 
less, that the nature-gods are, as a whole, the product 
of manes-worship, is, we think, a theory not war- 
ranted by the evidence, though apparently supported 
by the high authority of Mr. Herbert Spencer. It 
often occurs that a family settles near to some river, 
lake, or hill, and forthwith commences a cult of the 
indwelling spirit, without any catastrophe having 
taken place to initiate it. In fact, it may be said to 
be the rule that whenever a Tshi group takes up its 
abode near any remarkable natural feature or object, 
it worships and seeks to propitiate its indwelling 
spirit, fearing that otherwise it may do some harm. 
Many of the nature-gods are non -terrestrial, and it 
is difficult to see by what process they could ever 
become confused with dead men. Nobody could be 
buried in the sky, sun, moon, rainbow, or wind ; and 
if these could be conceived to be animated without 
the intervention of the souls of the dead, why coiild 
not terrestrial objects also? Manes- worship is the result 
of the belief that man has an indwelling spirit which sur- 
vives after the death of the body, and nature-worship 

rOXCLCSIOXS. ±nJ 

is the resnh of the belief that all nature is animateii. 
Which was first in order it would be difficult to deter- 
mine with absolute certaintr, but, from the analocr of 
the lower animals, it seems probable that the second 
was. ATiiTnak regard objects which more as alive, 
without harinor come to the conclusion that thev 
themselTCS hare spiritual second selves, and primitive 
man, who would know Uttle more of natural causation 
than an animal does, probably did also. When a rock 
slipped, or a tree fell, the unusual behaviour suggested 
animation. Afterwards, when he had come to believe 
that he himself possessed an indwelling spirit, he 
probably conceived the animating entities of natural 
objects to be somewhat analogous, and made the gods 
the reflex of his own kra. 

Objects made by human hands are not animate, and 
do not possess indwelling spirits, though they have 
ghosts, which the souls of the dead are able to make 
use of in deadland. There are, however, many such 
objects upon which the native sets great value, and as 
they do not possess guardian-spirits of themselves, ho 
provides them with artificial ones. Thus, just as ho 
kills the wives of his chief, and buries them with 
him, releasing their ghosts, or souls, from their bodies 
to enable them to continue their ministrations to their 
lord, so, perfectly logically, he slays a slave on tho 
family stool, the emblem of office, or upon the groat 
drum of the tribe, releasing the ghost from the body 
in order to enable it to become the guardian-spirit of 
the stool or drum. This is a luxury that can only bo 
afforded by men of rank, or to ensure tho safo- 
keeping of national trophies or emblems, and honco 

(•. 

SPEAKlNi'! PEOPLES. 

it 18 only tlio royal stools of kings and chiefs, or para- 
phernalia belonging to the tribe as a whole, that are, 
as a rule, thus protected. The victim is decapitated 
upon the object so that the blood gushes over it, and 
on the Gold Coast many tribal stools and drums arft 
clotted thick with the blood of those who have been 
slain npon them, for it seems to be thought necessary 
to renew the guardian from time to time. As, when 
a human sacrifice is offered to a god, the victim ia 
similarly slain upon the sacred stool or chair, it seems 
probable that the ghost is in this case also believed to 
become a guardian-spirit. No doubt the belief that 
all objects not made by human hands possessed in- 
dwelling, or guardian-spirits, suggested the idea o£ 
supplying artificial guardian-spirits to objects which 
did not come under this category. The practice ia 
very widespread, and the custom of immolating 
human victims at the launching of war-canoes ia 
the islands of the Pacific, so that the bows were 
sprinkled with their blood, and the Dyak practice of 
crushiiip a slave-girl to death under the first post 
«4tvct<Ml nt the building of a communal liouse, are cases 
lift |KM»t, the sacrifice being in each case designed to 
Ws^vkV a guardian-spirit. 

Vttk Anne two or three exceptions, all the gods 
•^W[f»l>ttry<^t Ity the Tshi tribes are purely local and 
^^M 4 ttMtl)^) area of worship. If they are nature- 
«^||u ittwv lUV bound up with the natural objects they 
i^^iJiwKS i^ iii^y are ghost-gods they are localised by 
4^|4lWtf <>t *?(*uUure, and if they are tutelary deities, 
•^^[|-— vU'4(t» liA» been forgotten, their position is , 
'MKiSW*l4> liiwl by that ot the town, village, or family 

CONVLUSJOKS. it^o 

they protect. In any case tliey are worsliipped only 
by those who live in the neighbourhood. The excep- 
tions are the sky-god, the earthquake-god, and the 
goddess of the silk-cotton trees. The vault of the 
heaven overhangs every town and hamlet, so that 
Nyankupon,* the god of the sky, which is believed to 
be solid, and the roof of the world, is universally 
known. Similarly, earthquakes are felt over the 
whole country, so that Sasabonsum, the earth-god, 
who ia held to produce these phenomena, is also 
widely known. Silk-cotton trees are found every- 
where, so that Srahmantin, the goddess of these 
trees, is feared and worshipped everywhere. With 
these three exceptions there are no general gods, that 
is, no gods known to the Tshi tribes as a whole; 
and two of them, it may be observed, in accord- 
ance with the principle that every man worships 
that which ia most likely to affect his lot, and which 
is ordinarily near at hand, though known to all, are 
not paid much regard to, except when they force 
themselves iipon the attention, Nyankupon is gene- 
rally considered too distant to have much weight in 
the affairs of mankind, or to take much interest 
therein, but when lie thunders and lightens — for to 
thunder, lighten, and pour out rain are his functions — 
and thereby reminds men that he has power to injure, 
they become polite to Jiim, and seek to propitiate him 

• NyankuiKJii. Ni/an meiins '■ to awake," but 6cem§ primarily to 
liavf meant "to stretch," or " to ejctcnd." I'on is aiijtiiing Hat, as 
" door, table-top " ; jio, " ocuan," is trom the wimo root. A'a seoms 
to be a euphonic cliange from km, " rounded, cun-ed." The word 
Nyunkupoii would thus mean " the stretch ed-ont, curved , Hat surface," 
or shortly " the outsprond vault," 

♦ — ^ ' 

■ » * . • —--,■•• 

.ar:'"'-r_i. -.r. 

■ r»- .^ 

'.k^ -. . .^k^r 

• Lcr.- 

1. r 

-. "'■ y ♦ ^T»^ 1, ■ ^^_ 1- 

.-■ I 

■ »♦■ - • ■ - 

■ ■ - - a 

'^ -T — 

~^7*2T": ir*; .1~^1- ' ~ " 

a. 

rrii.ir:. 

B ■ 

« 1 - » »▼— ^ • v^ •  •■ 1 -•^ ^ 'r* — -. ^-- ^a- 

I'T^*^ ft-'i .:rtu ^^racLl^rr: t'j a :>:;/:.: ■:: 1 .«.' :--: ' erjre 

■::5:^ '-^--vl:'.^ liair. and lon:r pf-n-Ient creasr^. 

-HBiarii:*. '*".iAibu Tiie indwelling .-pint of rL:«:f h-i^-e 

•1^ -Ui;^ "^'ck on whicli Capf; Coast Castle is 

j^. - . • !imt:iis^ ?ize, and black ; and Abroli-ku, 

- -.cj.--Cj^ w "iite 'aaJing-place, i.s of the colour of 

/snjiil and round, like a breakinir wave. 

-rrbt?< we find tlie same funda- 

.il larore is aniinnte, and the local 

.^ anong the Tshi tribes, the 

objects and features ; but 

^mmou on the Slave Coast 

than on the Grold Coast, and, as a consequence, the tie 
between nature-gods and their habitats, and between 
ghost-gods and their human origin, has been more 
frequently weakened and lost sight of. Hence we 
find a large increase in the number of tribal and 
general gods, many of which hare now no connection 
with any natnral object or with manes-worship. Con- 
currently with the increase in the number of tribal 
and general gods runs the relegation of the purely 
local gods to an inferior position. A god who is wor- 
shipped over a large area is naturally believed to be 
more powerful than one whose area of worship is 
circumscribed, and the tribal and general gods, having 
each their special functions and attributes, monopolise 
between them nearly all the phenomena and qualities 
which excite fear and respect in man. The local gods 
are thus pushed back from the prominent position 
they held among the Tshi tribes, with whom to pro- 
pitiate the local god was considered all important, 
and though they are worshipped by small communities 
and solitary families, the inhabitants of towns do not 
pay much attention to them. Almost every person is 
enrolled as a follower of one, at least, of the general 
and tribal gods, and when a man is secure of the 
favour and protection of the king, the goodwill of 
the court-underling is no longer of much moment to 
him. 

Among the general deities of the K>Vo tribes, Miiwu, 
the sky-god, whose name also moans to ntrotoh ovc^r 
or overshadow, answers to the Nyankupoii of tho Tnlii 
tribes, and the silk-cotton troo HpiritH appcuir \\\h\ov 
the names of Huntin and I^oko. Tho M\Voh Iihvo no 

77//J YOJiniA.SrEAKlSO PEOPLES. 

\ 

earthquake-god, probably because the shocks of earth- 
qiiake are rarely felt on the Slave Coast, two onlfc 
being known to have occurred since 1778, wherea( 
sliglit shocks are experienced on the Gold Coast everj 
two or tliree years. Mawu, like Nyankupon, is 
sidered too distant to interfere in human affairs, an(| 
as he no longer thunders and lightens, which phena 
mena are attributed to a new conception, Khebioso, . 
bird-like god, who appears to be the personifioi 
thunder-cloiid, he does nothing but control thq 
rain, and his importance has been thereby lessened 
Other general deities are Aizau, protector of market^ 
and pubhc places, who seems to be a type geueralisoi 
from the multitudinous tutelary gods of the Gold 
Coast; Dso, the god of fire, Legba, a phallic divinity," 
and Sapatan, the small-pox god. In this deification, 
or personification, of fire, love, and pestilence, we 
see a new departure. Fire is not worshipped on the 
Gold Coast, and there it is the local gods who inflict 
pestilence on their worshippers as a punishment for 
neglect ; while love, or desire, is usually stimidated 
by the ghost-gods, who, as the forefathers of the 
living, are believed to take an interest in the propa- 
gation of their descendants, though occasionally the 
exciting of this passion may be found to be one out 
of the many attributes of a nature-god. 

When we come to the Yoruba-speaking tribes we 
find siviulana in universal use, and the belief that 
nature-gods are the animating principles of natural 
objects only lingering in places remote from populous 
centres, and among the Jebns, who live isolated in 
tlieir forests anil shun intercourse with the other 

CONCLUSIONS. 289 

^l>es. There are, in consequence, few local gods 
*^yoper, but many tutelary deities of tribes, towns, 
j^ilages, and families, and there is a very large increase 
^ the number of general deities. Olorun, the sky- 
%^d, answers to the Ewe Mawu and the Tshi Nyan- 
'^^tipon, but he is rapidly being displaced by Obatala, 
^ more anthropomorphic conception, and who very 
Pl'obably was a ghost-god whose origin has been lost 
^ight of. The god of thunder and lightning appears 
Wilder the name of Shango, and that of small-pox 
Xander the name of Shan-kpanna. Legba has become 
a combination of desire and evil, and Odudua, a 
goddess, said by the priests to be the earth, presides 
over the passion of love. Orisha Oko, who repre- 
sents natural fertility, Aje Shaluga, god of wealth, 
Sliigidi, personified nightmare, and Dada, patron of 
vegetables, are new conceptions. A native of the 
Gold Coast who found his yam-crop thrive would 
attribute it to the fostering care of the local nature- 
god, and if he acquired wealth it would probably be 
considered duo to the efforts of his tutelary deity, but 
here gods appear to have been made out of abstractions. 
The evolution of types has been carried further 
than among the Ewes, and instead of each hill and 
mountain having its own indwelling god we have Oke, 
god of heights in general ; while in place of the 
multitude of local sea-gods found on the Gold Coast 
and the western half of the Slave Coast, we have one 
general god of the sea, Olokun. Aroni, god of 
forests, is another example. Olosa, the lagoon, 
Oya, the river Niger, and the two rivers Oshun and 
Oba, are nature-gods, which, from being strictly 

u 

TJIE TORVBA-^irEAKIXG PEOPLES. 

local, have now become general. Ifa, god of divina- 
tion, who is the benefactor of man and the unveiler o\ 
the future, was probably originally a gbost-god, as no 
doubt was Osanhin, god of medicine. Ognn, god of 
iron, and hence of war, mar be a personification of 
iron, but it is just as probable that he was the tradi- 
tional discoverer of the use of iron, and hence a ghost- 
god, who has now been raised to the first rank. In 
the general tendency to regard Legba as the evil 
principle, we perhaps see a first step towards dualism, 
in which Ifa, for choice, would represent the good 
principle. All the gods are more anthropomorphic 
than was the case with the Ewe and Tshi tribes. 

Looking, then, at these three groups of tribes, we 
find what seems to be a regular progression from tlie 
gods of hamlets and small communities, as among tlie 
Tshis, to the gods of a wLole people, as among the 
Yorubas; and from the worship of the indwelling 
spirits of tangible objects, or objects believed to be 
tangible, as the sky, and of dead men, to the worship 
of personified principles. With the aggregation of 
IMoal«e conies the concretion of gods. On the Gold 
' inatives dwell in small groups, isolated from 
r by large tracts of forest. There are no 
srly speaking, except on the sea-coast, and 
t ku^ villages. Ideas percolate but slowly, 
ife fct» in the narrow circle of their own lives, 
-.g^ijlf «r nothing of anything that transpires 
^ft *«» hamlet. To them their own 
w ^- ^^ ^ the first importance, and the local 
-, ,•» iheir estimation. There la no 
-. fwwth of national and general 

coxcLVSioxs. e^i 

gods, for eTerythmg is narrowed down to the village? 
circle. 

Among those Ewe tribes who inhabit the western 
and forested portion of the Slave Coast we find much 
the same condition of affairs; bat in the eastern 
Ewe districts the conntrr is comparatirelv oj>en, 
communities are larger, and communication is in every 
way freer. Here ideas circulate readily, man is 
constantlv meetinor with man, and as his mental 
circle widens, so do his conceptions concerning the 
nature of gods. Thus, among the eastern Ewe tril>es 
we find many national and tribal gods, and several 
general gods, while the local gods have sunk in the 
general estimation. 

Among the Toruba tribes this evolution has been 
carried still further, the country, except that inhabitoil 
by the Jebus, being fairly open, large towns numerous, 
and circulation constant. Here the local god has 
almost disappeared, and the great majority of the 
gods are known to, and worshipped by, the whole of 
the tribes. The origin and inception of the nature- 
gods, as the indwelling spirits of natural objects or 
phenomena, being generally lost sight of, some 
explanation of their existence becomes necessary, 
and, in consequence, we find a variety of myths 
dealing with the parentage and adventures of the 
gods. 

As far as manes-worship alone is concerned — that 
is, the worship of spirits or gods which are known to 
have once been men — there is no great difference 
between the three lingual groups. Among the 
Yorubas it is, if anything, rather less developed than 

TJ 2 

I 

I 

292 TUK YOIiUJiA-SPlCAKiXG PEOPLES. 

amoQg the Tshia and Ewes, or rather relegated to an 
inferior position, in consequence of the greater power 
and sway of the gods generally worshipped. When- 
ever, however, the human origin of the ghost-god 
has been lost sight of, he seems to have conformed 
to the general rule ; that is, where the circumstances 
have been unfavourable, he has, like the minor local 
nature-gods, disappeared, or been absorbed in the 
pei'sonality of another god, and where they have been 
favourable, he has acquired increased renown and 
area of worship, and become a national or general god. 
That fl"ith the nationalisation of gods the priest- 
hood should also become organised and developed is 
a natural result. Both on the Gold and Slave Coasts, 
and, indeed, everywhere else, the priesthood is a 
guild, or fraternity, the members of which require a 
special knowledge ; and no man or woman can become 
a member of it without a preliminary training, or 
apprenticeship. On the Gold Coast, however, there 
art) no distinct orders, or bodies, of priests. The gods 
being infinite in number, and local, the groups of 
priests are infinite in nimiber, and local, and have 
no cohesion. In every village there will be found 
three or four priests who know the sacred dances and 
special ceremonies required for thy worship of the 
gods peculiar to that village, but they know nothing 
of the rites and ceremonies of the gods of other 
loinis. On the ii\&\e Coast, on the other hand, each 
oQuenU god of the Ewe tribes, except Mawu, has in 
cmn- town and village a considerable number ot> 
mysitU *kto^ *^"*y '' ^^ *** minister to him and ta 
km itrfw- Cullt'ges and seminaries for the instmo* 

COXCLUSIOXS. 293 

tion of novices are numerous, and to each god are 
attached a number of temple-women, or wives. 
Among the Yoruba tribes priestly organisation is 
carried still further, and there are three recognised 
orders of priests, each of which is subdivided into 
grades. On the Gold Coast a priest might officiate 
indifferently before any god of the locality for which 
he was, so to speak, ordained ; but if a Yoruba priest 
of Shango were to attempt to consult Ifa there would 
be as great a commotion as there would be if a Roman 
Catholic priest were to attempt to preach in a Baptist 
Chapel. There is, in fact, a healthy competition 
between the priests of the principal gods, and each 
guard their own privileges very jealously. 

Religion, at the stage of growth in which we find 
it among these three groups of tribes, has no connec- 
tion with morals, or the relations of men to one 
another. It consists solely of ceremonial worship, and 
the gods are only offended when some rite or ceremony 
has been neglected or omitted. If the omission be 
quite unintentional the result is just the same, as the 
gods, like uncivilised man, judge by acts and not by 
motives. In all ages man makes God the moral 
counterpart of himself, and in savage life he only 
revenges that which affects himself. Witli the wrongs 
of others he has nothing to do. If a man murdered 
his neighbour and robbed the widow and orphans, 
that would be a matter that would not concern 
the gods in the least, and, provided he paid the 
usual homage expected by gods from their followers, 
he would be as secure of their favour and pro- 
tection as if he were perfectly innocent of all 

294 THE TOnrDA-SPEAKISn PEOPLES. 

cnme. On the other hand, years of blameless life 
wottld not save a man from piinisfameDt if he omitted 
Borne costomarr rite, or inadvertently gave offence. 
Similarly, in the Hebrew books, we find that the 
detestable fraud perpetrated by Jacob upon his 
brother Esan did not in any way lessen the favour 
with which he was regarded by the national god; bat 
when the unfortunate TJzzah, with the best intentions 
in the world, put forth his hand and held the ark to 
keep it from falling, he was struck dead, because the 
actton implied that the god was not able to protect 
himself. So, too, among the ancient Greeks, the 
gods took no cognisance of social offences, and only 
rflvengeJ slights offered to themselves ; as, when they 
«MMiiseU Protesilaus, the husband of Laodamia, to be 
ftrst hero slaiu before Troy, because she, in her 
less to consummate her marriage, forgot to 
pn^iate them with the usual sacrifices. 

The belief that religion has no connection with 
morals thus seems to be inherent in man when in a 
twrtaiu uitelloctual and social condition, and it ia not 
by any means at once got rid of by the adoption of 
tJtw religion of a higher race in which the two are 
aeSDCMlKU. The uneducated negroes of our colonies, 
(ftt iusJance, who have been nominally Christian for 
erty is still considered to be vested in families, 
mthor than in individuals, and succession to property 
remains in the female line, in the same order as 
among the Tshi tribes. 

Among the western E\\e tribes the law of blood- 
descent, and of succession to office or property, is the 
siimc as with the Ga tribes ; hut among tlio eastern 
E\Ve tribes, in Dahomi, blood-descent is on both sides 
of the house, and succession in the male line. This 
change has, however, only taken place in the royal 
family of Dahomi, and among what may be termed 
the aristocracy, who appear to have followed the 
lead of their sovereign. The lower orders still trace 
descent in the female line, and that the higher orders 
used also to do so is shown by the terms in use fof 
expressing relationships. Brother and sister, for 
instance, can only be rendered by "mother's son 
and " mother's daughter " respectively. 

Among the Yornba tribes descent is through both 
jmrents with succession in the male line, and marriage; 
is forbidden both in the father's and mother's family 
so long as relationship can be traced. A man's heirs 
lire his sons, among whom the property is equally 
divided. If a man have no sons, his brothers inherit. 
Tlie old ideas concerning blood-descent still, however, 
t>xercise some influence, and children by the samef 
fiilhcr, but different mothers, are not generally con- 
sidered proper blood-relations. Thus, going front 
tlie Tshi tribes to the Yoruba, from the least cultured 

rnycLusiONS. -jsis 

to the most cultured, we find a gradual but regular 
change from kinship and descent through mothers 
only, to kinship and descent through both parents. 

We are also able to trace the evolution of society 
from the stage in which the group, or community, as 
a whole, protected its own rights and exacted redress 
for injuries, to that in which the state protects the 
individual and punishes crime. 

It woidd appear that, at first, the community or 
group was the social unit, and had collective rights 
and responsibilities, every member of the group 
having a right to the protection of the group as a 
whole, and being in turn responsible individually for 
the acts or omissions of the group as a whole, or 
of any member of it. If we might speculate on this 
subject we might say that this condition dated from 
the time when the group was homogeneous, and had 
not yet been broken up into different clans by the 
system of blood-descent through mothers. Either no 
notion of blood-descent at all had been formed, or, if 
formed, the group-tie, the tie of association and 
comradeship, was considered of more moment than 
the blood-tie. The sole remaining trace of this con- 
dition to be found among the three lingual groups 
under consideration lies in the right which a creditor, 
whose debtor belongs to another community, has to 
seize the property of a third party, belonging to the 
same community as the person indebted, instead of 
recovering what is due from the latter. The group is 
individually and collectively responsible for debts 
contracted by any member. 

Among the Tslii, Gii, and Ewe tribes fbc family, 

M 

^f • - 

«f ■ ' 

UtttuWuU:, th^:fr, n:>e, a-.-^a:!:. ar. i in:" :rv to the 
lUir.Hori or property, it is the fasiilv -:f the person 
wlio lifiH Hfjfforcd that alone can •iemand ;ii:'i exact 
HHlihf;ictiori. No one else has a right to interfere* 
iiiirl, if tJie farnilv should choose to foreeo all 
ilnfriMiirlH, no one has a ricrht to sav anvthine. 
llopumtiori in not souglit directly from the offender, 
ImiI< from tluj farnilv to which he belonsrs. It is, in 
fiH^I, II ruHo. of one farnilv airaved aeainst another. 

Whoro Ihe contendinjf parties cannot come to 
iuuIukI uyv(*(iiru'ui as to the reparation, the injured 
piu'ty hrinjfH thrj case before the state, that is, the 
ohiof, who, until thus called upon to arbitrate, has 
lu* pi»\vri' to nri. There is no fixed scale of punish- 
iurut>4 i»r Hwanls ; the injured family assesses its 
\Uiuu^oH, und, if the injurinjf family does not accept 
tl\o loiMUrt or cITi'ct a compromise, the dispute is 
wfonvd lo thi^ vh'wS for settlement. Murder is not 
uvssyiAavily puuIsImmI with death, for the family of 
lUv^ \Uvt^i!*tHl may, if they think fit, accept a money- 
<s,»^^^^H^U*iU u^u iu UtMi for tlie loss of the services of the 
s^NN"^*isL If tho family be j)oor, and that of the 
W^^^aW^vv vioh, thoy usually deem it better to exact 
^Si^NW^wt tli«n to ouJ4>y the luxury of revenge, which 

CONCLUSIONS. 301 

would only have the effect of depriviug the iujurers 
of one of their number, without improving the 
position of the injured. In the contrary case the 
feeling of revenge is allowed to have its way ; and 
when this occurs, the homicide is handed over to 
the injured family and put to death by them. In 
cases of theft, or injury to property, the stolen goods 
are returned, or the amount of the damage made 
good, by the family to which the offender belongs ; 
-which is also liable to a fine for not having controlled 
the actions of the guilty member. The family itself 
then deals with its erring member, and punishes or 
pardons liim, just as it thinks fit, that being a matter 
with which the outside public has nothing to do. 
No distinction is made between crimes and accidents. 
Motive is never taken into account) and the harm 
done is always deliberated upon from the point of 
view of loss to the family. If a man be deliberately 
murdered, or killed by accklent, there is equally a 
loss of an individual to the family, and they can in 
either case take a life in exchange, or accept com- 
pensation. We saw the reflex of this condition in 
their religious views, the gods being likewise believed 
not to take motive into consideration. 

Among the Yorubas, in consetjuenoe of the change 
in the system of blood-desceuts, the family has lost 
cohesion. It is no longer the powerful organisation it 
was when it rested upon tho basis of the clan ; for, 
instead of being a largo group of kindred, it has be- 
come a congeries of households, each with two lines 
of descent, and as the family has weakened, the state 
has gradually usurped its privileges. The state here 

302 TEE YonuBA-srEAKma PEOriES. 

takes cognisance of serious criraes, and only minor 
injiirios to the person or property are left to the 
initiative of tbe family. The restoration of the stolen 
property, and the imposition of a fine on the family, la 
no longer considered a sufficient reparation for theft. 
Theft has come to be regarded as an offence against 
social order, in which the whole community is 
interested, and hence a first offence is punished by 
flogging or fine, a second by mutilation, and a third by 
death. The family, being no longer collectively 
responsible for the actions of its several members, is 
not allowed to deal with the guilty member as it thinks 
fit. The state metes out justice ; every man is respon- 
sible for his own conduct, and punishment falls upon 
the guilty individual instead of upon the group of 
kindred. 

We are also able to trace to some extent the evolu- 
tion of ideas concerning property. In those groups of ' 
tribes which trace descent through mothers only, 
property is vested in families rather than in indi- 
viduals. There is, of course, individual property, but 
it usually is limited to minor articles, such as utensils, 
weapons, &c. Houses, the family gold ornaments, 
insignia, stools, and properties that liave been handed, 
down from bygone generations, are vested in the head 
of the family, and cannot be alienated without the con- 
sent of the family as a whole. At the demise of the 
head of the family the next of kin who succeeds has 
the usufruct of tlic family property in his turn, and 
responsible for its safe custody. Among the Yorul 
in consequence of the change in the system of descent 
property is vested in households, that is, in a small 

CONCLUSIONS. ;^ulJ 

group of kindred, and is divided among the heirs, who 
are the sons, or, in default of sons, brothers. As here, 
equally with the tribes who trace descent solely in the 
female line, the order of succession is unalterable ; 
property in all cases remains in the family, the only 
difference being that among the Yorubas it is dis- 
tributed with each succeeding generation, instead of 
being kept together ; but the tendency of the Yoniiia 
custom undoubtedly is to destroy the notion that 
property belongs to the group of kindred, and to make 
it individual. 

In the case of all the tribes land is held in common, 
and there is no individual property in land, though 
the notion that land can be the property of the indi- 
vidual, instead of the commtmity, has, as has been said, 
begun to appear among the Yorubas. Probably, in 
early times, moveable as well as immoveable property 
was once common. It still is, to a large extent, com- 
mon to the family, and, at an earlier stage, when the 
group was homogeneous, it was no doubt common to 
the group or community ; for the custom which allows 
a creditor to seize the property of a third party 
belonging to the same community as the debtor, seems 
to point to a notion that the community as a whole 
must have benefited by what the debtor received. If 
all property were once common to the gi'oiip, as land 
is now, then the following changes probably occurred, 
When the homogeneous group became heterogeneous, 
and broke up into clans in consequence of the sy.-item 
of female descents, property became common to the 
clan. Then, when the clan became divi(k-d into 
uterine families, property became common to the 

304 THE YOEUBA-SPEAKING PEOPLES. 

uterine family, as it still is on the Gold Coast ; and, 
when the uterine families came to an end, owing to 
the recognition of the blood-tie between father and 
child, property became vested in households, as it is 
with the Yorubas. In other words, as the units of 
which society was originally composed became sub- 
divided into smaller and smaller groups, so did 
property become vested in a gradually decreasing 
number of persons, until it finally became individual.