Chapter III: Part 3

All that night, the mothers of the seven boys cried bitterly; and begged the chief not to kill their sons, but he told them that the sentence must be carried out, as otherwise the water ju-ju would be angry and kill many people.

The next day, the seven boys were taken down to the beach and killed, and their fathers took their bodies home and buried them. The town then mourned for three days.

The head chief then called the porcupine to him, and told him to go to the water ju-ju and tell him that the seven boys had been killed, but that Chief Eka had refused to allow his son to be killed, and had defied the water ju-ju to do his worst.

So the porcupine set off and dived into the river and reported to the water ju-ju all that had happened. The water ju-ju said the head chief had done quite right to kill the seven boys, as, had he not done so, he would have made the people suffer very much. He also said that he would deal with Chief Eka’s son later on. Then the porcupine returned to the land and reported to the head chief all that the water ju-ju had said.

When Chief Eka heard the threat of the water ju-ju he at once gave orders to all his people that none of them were to go into the river, but, that, if they wanted to wash, they must carry the water to their houses for the purpose.

This was done for two years and nothing happened, but, in the commencement of the third year, Chief Eka’s son, thinking he was quite safe, thought he would like to bathe, so he went down to the river and went into the water as far as his knees; he then washed himself and returned home. As nothing had happened to him the first day, he went down again in the afternoon when the sun was not quite so hot, and jumped into the deep water, but the water ju-ju, who was waiting for him, at once seized him and dragged him out of sight under the water.

The people who were bathing at the time, when they saw the boy disappear at once, guessed that it must be the water ju-ju who had taken him, so they went and told Chief Eka what they had seen. When he heard what had happened, he went to the porcupine and asked him to go to the water ju-ju, and offer him two slaves if he would return his son. The porcupine agreed to go, providing Chief Eka gave him one slave and 500 rods for his trouble. The chief willingly agreed to this, and the slave and rods were brought to the porcupine’s house that very night.

In the morning the porcupine went down to the river, and dived in as he had done before, and swam to the water ju-ju’s house and told him that Chief Eka offered to give him two slaves if he would release his son. But the water ju-ju refused them, and said, “Tell Chief Eka, if he wants to see his son, let him look in the river in two days’ time.” So the porcupine went back and delivered the message to Chief Eka, who was very sorry as he was so fond of his son.

Two days afterwards, Chief Eka went down to the beach, where he saw the dead body of his son floating down the river, so he sent some men out in a canoe and they brought back the dead body and it was buried.

Ever since that time, the people of Inkum believe, when anyone is drowned and his body floats after three days without being eaten by the fish or crocodiles, that the water ju-ju has killed the dead man because he had done some evil thing.

Told by Abassi of Inkum.--[E.D., 9.6.10.]

XI.--HOW A FATHER TRIED TO KILL ONE OF HIS SONS BUT FAILED.

Osewo of Inkum was a rich chief and had many slaves. He also had five wives, four of whom had two children each, but the fifth wife whose name was Agbor had no children. As a child did not come quickly to Agbor the chief used to beat her and use her very badly as he thought she might never have a child and then he would have paid all the dowry and marriage expenses for nothing. Agbor bore all the ill-treatment she received without complaining, and although her husband gave her no money (rods) or food, she remained faithful to him. A year later, however, she gave birth to a male child whom she called Agberamfe. This did not alter the chief’s feeling in any way towards her, and he took a violent dislike to the little boy. Up to the time the infant was one year old he never gave the mother or child a present, and when, as he grew up, the father saw his little son playing about the house he never called him to come to him or dashed him anything as he did to his other children. Up to the time when the baby boy could walk about Chief Osewo never told Agbor to come and sleep with him but she never complained to anyone. This caused the Chief to dislike her more than he had done before, and he told some of his other wives that he believed that Agbor was going about with other men. His servants, however, told him that Agbor was quite faithful to him, but he would not be convinced. After another year had passed, Osewo, having drunk a lot of tombo one evening, sent for Agbor to sleep with him, and in due course she conceived and gave birth to a little girl baby whose name was ’Nse. Even this did not change the chief’s dislike to his son Agberamfe, and by degrees he got to hate the boy, until at last, when the planting season came round, he made up his mind to kill him, but he did not want to do this in such a way that any one could blame him.

Osewo then called all his sons together and gave each of them a sharp matchet, but to Agberamfe he gave a piece of iron. He then told the boys that he would take them into the bush the next day, to the place where he intended to make a farm, and that they should clear some ground for him. The boys then went back to their different houses and told their mothers what the chief had said. When Agberamfe saw his mother he told her that his father had given each of his brothers a matchet but that he had received only a piece of iron to work with although he was the youngest of them all. Agbor at once thought that her husband must have some evil design upon her son; so that night she went to the place where her husband was going to make his farm and saw the Queen of the White Ants. She told the Queen the whole of her sad story, and said that she feared that her husband would try to injure her son. Then the Queen of the White Ants asked her what she could do to help her. So Agbor asked the Queen to send all her people to the place where her son was going to work, and tell them to bite through the roots of the grass and bush so that her son could make a big clearing with his piece of iron without any trouble. This the Queen promised to do, and Agbor thanked her.

Agbor then went to the rabbit[2] who was a great friend of hers, and having told him her story, asked him to dig a hole underneath the bed of her husband so that he could hide there and hear what the chief said at night to his other wives in case he should be planning evil against her son, and Agbor also asked him to tell her every morning what he had heard. The rabbit then went off and dug a hole under the chief’s bed so that he could hear all that passed in the room above him, and when it was dark he went into the hole to listen. In the evening when the chief’s favourite wife came to join him, the rabbit heard him tell her that the next day he was going to take all his sons into the bush to clear his farm, and that the one who was last in doing his share of work would be killed, and that all the boys would be placed in a line and he would tell them to clear the bush to where he would be standing and that as he had given Agberamfe a piece of iron instead of a matchet, he was certain to be last and would be killed. When the rabbit heard this he went off and told Agbor, who was very glad that she had arranged matters with the Queen of the White Ants. When morning came Chief Osewo went into the bush calling upon his sons to follow him, but Agbor went with her son. The chief then placed the boys in a row and told them to clear the bush to the place where he would be standing, and told them that the boy who finished last would be killed as a warning to the others what would happen to them if they did not work hard. He then went off 50 paces into the bush and gave the signal to start. Agbor, however, had taken care to place her son in the place where the white ants were, and he started off cutting right and left with his piece of iron and everything fell before him so that he very soon reached his father before the other boys had got so far as half way. This made the chief very angry. So he called out that he had changed his mind, and told his sons to stop working and go home without finishing the work. Then for some time he did not try to injure Agberamfe. But when the rainy season came he made another plan to kill him, which he told his wife at night, fortunately in the hearing of the rabbit, who told Agbor. The plan worked out as follows:--

Chief Osewo sent all his slaves to the other side of the river to cut the leaves of the tombo palm to make roof mats with; they were also to take some rats with them and catch a crocodile. When they returned they were to place eight bundles of the leaves in a row along the road, and they were then to put the crocodile on the ground and cover him up with leaves for the ninth bundle. The slaves did as as they were ordered, and after three days returned and reported to the chief that everything had been done as he had directed. Then the chief called his nine sons together and told them to go down to the beach one after the other and bring up a bundle of the leaves, and they were then to start making mats to repair the houses, but he told Agberamfe to go last because he was the youngest. Agbor, who was waiting outside, then gave her son some strong tie-tie which had been made into a running noose. She also gave him a sharp spear and told him that he was to spear the bundle before he went near it as there was a crocodile hidden beneath the leaves. She also told him that if the crocodile showed his head he was to cast the noose round him and tie him up securely. Agberamfe then went down to the beach and threw the spear as hard as he could at the bundle. He was fortunate in pinning the crocodile to the ground and very soon it showed its head through the leaves, whereupon the boy threw the noose round its jaws and made it fast to a tree. He then withdrew the spear and stabbed the crocodile until it was dead. Agberamfe then placed his bundle of leaves under the crocodile, and having got it on to his head carried it up to the house and placed it in front of his father. The chief was more angry than ever at this, and determined to make another plan that would not fail. So when the dry season came round he told his favourite wife at night time that he had arranged with a blacksmith to kill the boy. That the next day he would send Agbor’s son to blow the bellows, and that when the iron was red hot the blacksmith would plunge it into the boy’s inside, and that he would die in great pain. The rabbit, who was listening all the time, told Agbor of the plan he had heard, and she warned her son not to blow the bellows, but to watch the blacksmith carefully In the morning Chief Osewo told his son to go to the blacksmith and blow the bellows for him as he was making something for him. Agberamfe went as he was told but he stood outside the shelter and watched the blacksmith very carefully until he saw him pull the red hot iron out of the fire and make a dart for him. He was quite prepared, fortunately, and ran off home at once and told his father what had happened. His father pretended to pity the boy, and told him that he would send him the next day to his friend the leopard to look after him, and that he should stay there for ten nights. In the evening Chief Osewo sent for the leopard and told him that he was going to send his son Agberamfe to him for ten days, and that during that time he must contrive to kill him by stealth and send the boy’s skin to him so that he might be quite sure that his son was dead at last. This time Agbor had no plan, but she told Agberamfe to be very careful all the time he remained in the leopard’s house. The boy started off the next day, and when he arrived at the house he was much surprised to find that the leopard was as rich as his father. After they had finished their evening meal the leopard told Agberamfe to sleep with his sons, but the boy suspecting that the leopard had designs upon his life, waited until the leopard’s sons had gone to sleep and then having placed a log in his bed went outside to sleep. The leopard came in the middle of the night, when it was so dark that he could not see very distinctly, and killed the boy he thought was Agberamfe, but he was mistaken and killed one of his own sons instead. The leopard was very angry when he found what he had done, so that the next evening he shut the boy up in the goat house. But Agberamfe very soon undid the fastening and got out, closing the door behind him. He then went to sleep in the same place where he had slept the previous night. About midnight the leopard brought fire and burnt the house down, thinking that he had made certain of the boy this time. But when the morning came Agberamfe greeted the leopard as usual, much to his surprise. The leopard then went to the house he had burnt, and found that he had destroyed all his own goats, leaving the boy still uninjured. This annoyed the leopard so much that he determined to take the boy back to his father and not to try and kill him any more as each time he tried he did something to damage himself. The leopard then returned the boy to his father, and said he could not kill him as he was too cunning.

By this time, Agberamfe had grown into a fine good-looking young man. Some little time after the leopard had tried so unsuccessfully to kill the boy, the Chief thought he would make a trial to see which of his sons liked him best. So the next day he told his wives not to wake him as he was not feeling well. He woke up in the middle of the day and refused to eat until the evening. He then told his wives to sleep in their own houses as he was ill. In the morning he pretended to be very weak. He shut his eyes and held his breath from time to time. The boys, thinking their father was about to die, began to dispute amongst themselves as to what share of their father’s property each should take. But Agbor’s son sat beside his father’s bed the whole day. When the night came the Chief saw that Agberamfe was looking sad, and told him to go home to his mother, but the boy would not go, and told his father that he was too fond of him to leave him and let him die alone. So he stayed all that night with his father while his brothers were laughing and playing outside, and the Chief clearly saw that they did not care in the least that he was ill.

The following morning, the Chief got up from his bed, and having called all his people round him, explained the trial he had made, to see which of his sons loved him the most. Osewo also told him of the behaviour of his sons when they thought that their father was dying, and that Agberamfe had stayed by his side and looked after him all the time, although he had so often tried to kill him. The people then advised the Chief to divide his property into two shares, so that when he died, one share should belong to Agbor’s son, who would be able to look after his sister; and the other share would be divided amongst the other eight boys. This the Chief did.

_Moral._--It is not the one who makes the fire to boil the koko yams[3] who is most likely to eat them. And it is not always the ones you love most who will care most for you.

Told by Abassi of Inkum.--[E.D., 10.6.10.]

XII.--CONCERNING THE OKUNI WITCHES AND CANNIBALISM.

In Okuni, a long time ago, there dwelt a chief called ’Ndabu. He was considered to be a rich man in that part of the country, and was the owner of numerous slaves. He also had a large farm and many canoes. Chief ’Ndabu was, however, not a happy man, as all the time he was young he never had a son who should inherit his property when he died. On this account, he married thirty wives, but none of them had a child. At last, the Chief consulted a ju-ju man, and gave him a big “dash.” The ju-ju man then made ju-ju, and finally told the Chief that the only wife he had, by whom he could get a child was a woman called Iya Agagim. He advised the chief to pull down all the houses where his other wives lived and to send them away. He should then build an entirely new house for Iya Agagim, and make a sacrifice of a white goat and a white fowl, to which he should add a white piece of cloth which should be tied up inside the door of the new house. The ju-ju man told the chief not to sleep with anyone until the house was built, and that then Iya Agagim was to go into the river and wash herself all over, and having thrown away all her old clothes, she was to put on a new cloth before she joined her husband so that she would be an entirely fresh woman. When the chief heard this, he was very pleased, and went home.

Having called all his wives together, he told them what the ju-ju man had advised him to do, and although he was very sorry to part with them, still they would all have to go as he was determined to get a son if possible. That night all the wives cried bitterly. The following day the chief sent to his farm for yams which he gave to his wives, and many rods as a dash; he then sent them back to their respective parents. Iya Agagim was also sorry to lose her old companions. When they had all departed the chief pulled down all the houses where they had been living, and then built a new house on a different piece of ground. When this was completed he made the sacrifices as he had been directed to do by the ju-ju man. Iya Agagim then went down to the town beach on the Cross River and washed herself very carefully. She then threw all her old clothes away and walked back to the house where she put on a new cloth and joined her husband. After a month had elapsed she found that she had conceived and told her husband, who was delighted at the good news.

The chief then called a play for all the young men and young women of the town, and told them what had happened. He also gave them plenty to eat and drink so that they might rejoice with him in his good fortune. Chief ’Ndabu then went to the ju-ju man, taking many presents with him, and having thanked him for his good advice which had turned out so well, he then asked how many children he would have by his wife; and when the ju-ju man said he would have twenty-one children, he was very glad and went home, but he did not tell his wife. The chief then sent his slaves off to the farm to make it larger, as in the future he would have to make provision for a larger household. From the time Iya Agagim conceived, the chief kept her in the house, as he was afraid that if she met any of his former wives they might be jealous, and try to do her some injury.

In due course, the woman gave birth to a boy baby, and the chief held another big play which lasted for three days and nights, and much tombo was drunk. Then the chief went again to the ju-ju man, and having given him a big “dash,” asked whether the boy would live. The ju-ju man said that he would live, and that some day one of his sons would discover something which the Okuni people had never heard of or known before. Then the chief went home. Altogether Iya Agagim gave birth to twenty-one children, and the last boy who was born was called Amoru. The chief then knew that his wife would not bear any more children. As they grew up, whenever he went to his farm, Chief ’Ndabu used to take all his children with him, and there were many people in the town who were very jealous of him on account of his large family. At last, some of the townspeople met together and decided to get rid of the chief and all his family. One of the Okuni chiefs, called Elullo, who was a witch, said that he was willing to go to Chief ’Ndabu’s house at night and see what he could do, but he was afraid of the ju-ju which the chief kept in a corner of the house, as it was very powerful against witches and might kill him. At last, he thought of a plan, so he went to one of Chief ’Ndabu’s former wives, who was called Elilli, and asked her what sort of ju-ju her former husband had to protect him against witches. Elilli then asked him why he wanted to know, so the chief told her that they were tired of Chief ’Ndabu and all his family, and wanted to kill them, but that they were afraid of his ju-ju. Elilli said that she was also very jealous of Iya Agagim having so many children, and that as she was a witch herself she would like to join with Chief Elullo and kill the whole family. Elilli said that the safest way to dispose of them all was to put a witch into Amoru the last born, and that he would take them to his father’s house so that they would not then do anything contrary to the chief’s protecting ju-ju. Chief Elullo then invited Chief ’Ndabu to dine with him, and asked him to bring his wife and all his children. The chief gladly accepted the invitation and Elullo prepared large quantities of palm oil chop and tombo for his guests. One portion of the food he set aside for the boy Amoru, and this portion was bewitched. In the evening Chief ’Ndabu came with his family, and they all enjoyed their dinner. But the prepared food had been given to Amoru who eat it. After they had dined, they all went home and, shortly afterwards, went to bed. During the night, Chief Elullo turned himself into a witch-bird (the owl) and went to ’Ndabu’s house, where he called the boy whom he had witched. By this time a lot of witches had arrived, and when Amoru came out he was surprised to see so many people. Chief Elullo then cautioned the boy never to tell anyone what he saw, and then took him to the place where they cooked human food, and gave him a piece of flesh and some yam to eat. Amoru eat the yam, but took the flesh home and hid it. He hid the meat inside his mother’s fire-place, and covered it over with pots. Although he never spoke about what he had seen, he could not help wondering how it was that he could go in and out of the house when all the doors were fastened. The next night when he heard the witches play in the town, he was compelled by the witch inside him to go and join them, and found when he got to the cooking place that a man had been killed and hung up to the branch of a tree by his neck. Chief Elullo told the boy that they were going to eat the dead man as they had eaten the man the previous night, and that he should have his share as before. Amoru was very frightened when he saw what was done, but dared not say anything. The dead man was then cut up and cooked with yams. When the food was sufficiently cooked it was divided amongst the witches who sat down and eat it, but Amoru only eat the yam and took the meat home and hid it in the same place. Every night for a month and a half the boy attended the feast of the witches, and either a man or a woman was always killed and eaten; but Amoru always took his piece of flesh home and placed it with the other meat. All this time Chief ’Ndabu had been making sacrifices to his ju-ju to protect him against witchcraft, and he used to call all his sons together to sit round the ju-ju while the sacrifices were being made, but Amoru sat outside as he was afraid to go near his father’s ju-ju on account of the witch in him.

One night when the boy went to the feast the witches told him that it was his turn to provide a body for food, but Amoru said he was too young and had no one to give. Then Chief Elullo said, you have a father and mother and plenty of brothers and sisters, we shall be pleased to eat any of them. But still the boy refused, saying that he was much too fond of his people to have them killed for the witches’ food. Chief Elullo replied that he could not help his feelings, and that, Amoru had seen a man or woman killed every night for a month and a half, and that he had received his share although the people who had been killed and eaten were the dear relations of some of the witches. Amoru then begged the witches to have another round and that when it came to his turn again he would give either his father or mother up to be eaten. To this they all agreed, and they went on in their usual way killing and eating a man or a woman every night: but Amoru never eat his share. The witch people used to play every night from the time other people went to bed until cock crow when they were obliged to go home. When the time came for Amoru to supply a man to be eaten, he began to get frightened. So at last he made up his mind to tell his eldest brother, whose name was Nkanyan, all about the witches and the difficulty he was in. Amoru then got his big brother to go into the bush with him so that no one could hear what he said, and then told him how he had been made a witch in secret and was compelled to attend the meetings where the dead bodies were eaten, but he explained that he had not eaten any of the human flesh, having hidden it in the fireplace. Amoru then said, “the time has now arrived when I have to produce a man or a woman for the witches to eat, and they want my father or mother or one of us children, but as I do not want to give them anyone I thought I would get you to help me as you are big and strong.” At first Nkanyan could not believe his young brother’s story, so Amoru brought him to the place where he had hidden the meat, and showed it to him asking him not to tell anyone as he had thought of a plan. Amoru then told his brother to lie down in a bed opposite the door, but that he was not to go to sleep. He was to arm himself with a matchet, and when he heard the witches coming he was to stand at the head of his bed with the matchet in his hand and his arm raised ready to strike. Amoru also said, “one of the witches will present the calabash holding ‘the night’ three times, and on the third time you must smash the ‘night’ calabash[4] with your matchet, and it will at once become light.” He told his brother to be brave and not to make a noise or tell anyone until the calabash was broken. He must then call out to the people who must catch the witches and tie them up.

Amoru told Nkanyan that when the time came he would hide under one of the beds, but the witches would run outside, and could be easily distinguished from the other people, as they would be all naked.

That evening, after all the people had gone to bed, the witches met as usual for their feast and play, and Amoru went and joined them. Chief Elullo said it was Amoru’s turn to provide a body for food and asked him who he was going to give. Amoru replied that he would give them his eldest brother Nkanyan. The chief then told the people to take the night calabash with them, and to bring Nkanyan out of his father’s house, but Amoru asked Elullo to lead the people, as he was the chief of the witches. To this the chief agreed, and Amoru showed the way to his father’s house, and having opened the door showed them the bed where Nkanyan was supposed to be sleeping.

Then the man presented the “night” calabash towards Nkanyan three times, but as he held it out for the third time, Nkanyan hit it with his matchet and smashed it to pieces with one blow. Directly this had been done, it became light at once, and all the witches were discovered naked, and at once started screaming and running away, trying to hide.

But Nkanyan called out in a loud voice for everyone to come out and seize the witches, and very soon they were all caught and securely fastened up. The people then took the witches to the palaver house, and Chief ’Ndabu sent word to the other chiefs that they would be tried at once.

The big wooden drum was then beaten to call the people together. The people of the town were much surprised that the night had been so short, but when they heard that the night calabash had been broken and the witches captured, they were very glad, and went to have a look at them.

Chief ’Ndabu told the chiefs what had happened in his house the previous night.

When all the people had assembled, it was noticed that there were very few chiefs present as most of them and the head men had joined the witches’ society.

Amoru was then called upon to give evidence. He told the people all that had happened and the number of people he had seen killed and eaten. He also produced the basket of human flesh which had been given him as his share.

Nkanyan also told the chiefs and people how the witches had come to kill him, but he had broken their ju-ju calabash and turned the night into day, when all the naked witches were caught.

The chiefs then went outside to consult as they were afraid to talk in front of the witches. When they returned they ordered the witches to be tied up to trees and burnt alive, but Chief Elullo, being the leader was tortured and kept alive for some time. They cut small bits of flesh from him, and cooked it before his eyes. They then made him eat his own meat. After a time he died in great agony. His body was then burnt all except the skull which would not burn, so the people cut it into pieces with an axe and threw the broken pieces on the fire. The basket of meat which Amoru brought was also burnt.

The sons and daughters of the witches were sorry to lose their parents, but they were glad that all the witches in the town had been caught and disposed of.

The chiefs then consulted together as to how they should get the witch out of Amoru. They decided that he should be sent to a ju-ju man named Ewo who could take witches out of people, and they agreed to pay his charges, which amounted to one slave, between them.

So Amoru went to Ewo, the ju-ju man, and he took the witch out of his heart and put it under a rock.

When the boy returned to Okuni, he told the people that he was quite cured and was no longer a witch man.

The chiefs were very glad to hear of this, and sent Amoru round the towns, when he received many presents of cloth, rods, and tombo.

The people then collected all the ashes of the witches who had been burnt and threw them into the river, saying they had got rid of all the witches in their town.

The chiefs then ordered two cows to be killed to make a feast, and a big play was held.

A month later Chief ’Ndabu died and his funeral was attended by all the chiefs and people of the town. His body was dressed up in his best clothes and it was made to sit up in a chair, some of his wives fanning it to keep the flies off. It was kept there for three days, and the chiefs sat round the dead body and eat their food, but each mouthful was first offered to the dead man to eat. Those people who were very fond of ’Ndabu went so far as to touch his mouth with the food before they eat it.

The body was then wrapped up in sleeping mats and buried, and many rods and pieces of cloth were placed in the grave.

Nkanyan then took the place of his father and looked after his mother and brothers and sisters, who lived in peace and died natural deaths without being troubled by witches.

Told by Ennenni, an Okuni woman.--[E.D., 16.6.10.]

XIII.--OF CHIEF AMAZA, HIS WIFE ACHI AND THE TORTOISE.

Achi was a fine-looking Okuni woman, the wife of Chief Amaza. He was very fond of her and would not have any other wives.

She lived with her husband for some time, and eventually conceived. The chief then told his wife that she was not to go out of the house as she might give birth to the child when there was no one about to help her.

About this time a ju-ju man called Nkendeng was driven out of the Okuni towns into the bush near Insofan because he used to kill people with a poison called Ekpinon.

When the dry season came, it was the custom of the Okuni women to go into the bush to the small rivers, and having dammed them up with sticks and clay, they would bale the water out and catch the fish. As a rule they stayed out in the bush for several days, and on these occasions the married women were accompanied by their husbands, and the young women would have their men friends.

As Achi was skilful at catching fish, she begged her husband to allow her to go, but he refused on account of her condition. Achi was, however, determined to go and bothered her husband so much that at last he consented and they started off together.

Chief Amaza did not take any of his slaves with him as he did not wish to stay more than two days in the bush on account of his wife’s condition.

When they arrived at the river, which was close to where the ju-ju man lived, they found that most of the people had already dried their fish and were returning home. The chief then begged his wife to go back with the other people to the town as he was afraid of the ju-ju man. But Achi refused, and said she had taken a lot of trouble to come all the way from Okuni and she would not go back without some fish. When the chief saw that his wife was determined to stay, he made a bush shelter for them both to sleep in.[5]

Amongst the people who came to the fishing was the tortoise, who had made his shelter near the source of the stream. He did not fish himself, but he brought his drum with him and a large bag. In the evenings the tortoise used to play his drum very skilfully for the people to dance, and as a reward they used to give him dried fish, which he put in the bag.

The next day the few remaining people packed up their fish and returned to Okuni, but the tortoise remained behind, as he hoped to get some fish out of Achi and her husband.

Achi and her husband went fishing that day, and caught a lot of fish between them, which they dried on sticks in the smoke of the fire at night.

The next morning Achi was not feeling well, so she told her husband to go and fish by himself. Achi was quite alone, when suddenly she felt pains, and shortly afterwards the child she was expecting was born. She then called for her husband to come and help her, but he could not hear.

The ju-ju man, however, had heard the child cry, and came to Achi at once and assisted her by boiling water for her to wash with. He then took the child up and washed it, and placed it on some soft dry leaves on the ground.

He then asked Achi what she would give him as a reward for the trouble he had taken. But Achi said “I have nothing to give you. Wait until my husband returns.” But the ju-ju man said, “I know what you are thinking of, you want to put me off with a present of some fish, but I do not intend to accept anything of the sort. Nothing will content me but the head of your baby, which I intend to give to my Ekpinon ju-ju.” When Achi heard this she began to cry, and while she was crying her husband came in, but no sooner did he see the ju-ju man than he threw his load of fish on the ground and ran off to the nearest farm as fast as he could go.

Shortly after this the tortoise came down to see what was the matter, and he found the ju-ju man preparing to cut the baby’s head off, and Achi weeping and imploring him to spare her new-born baby. The tortoise then asked the ju-ju man some questions, and at last agreed that he should take the baby’s head, but that he should leave the body. He then reminded the ju-ju man that, when anyone was going to be killed, it was the custom to beat the drum and march the victim to the slaughter place. The ju-ju man agreed that there was such a custom, so the tortoise went off and fetched his drum.

Very soon afterwards he returned, and commenced to play and sing, and he played so well that the ju-ju man felt compelled to dance. The tortoise then beat his drum louder and louder, and faster and faster, telling the ju-ju man to dance further off, as he would hear the drum better. He did so, but very soon returned to see that Achi and her child was safe. He continued to dance a little way off, and then returned two or three times, until the tortoise told him that he could dance as far off as he liked, as he was there to look after Achi. He then went further away each time until the sixth time, coming back always to look at the child.

The tortoise told Achi that, the next time the ju-ju man danced away, she was to pick up her baby and cover it with her cloth, and then run by the nearest path, which he pointed out to her, to a farm which was not far off, and where he thought her husband had gone to.

When the ju-ju man had gone some little distance, Achi picked up her baby, and ran off as fast as she could go. The ju-ju man then returned, and the tortoise drew in his head and legs into his shell, but the ju-ju man was so angry at losing the baby that he picked up the tortoise and carried it home. He then placed the tortoise on the ground in front of his ju-ju, and drove a stake through his body, and said to the ju-ju, “This is the man who stole Achi’s baby from me, and prevented me from making a human sacrifice for you, so you must take him instead.”

Achi reached the farm safely, and found her husband, who took her away at once to Abijon, a town about five miles inland from Okuni. He then consulted a lot-caster called Aja as to the baby’s future, and asked him whether the child would live or die as the ju-ju man had seen him.

Aja placed his mats on the ground, and having sat down with his legs crossed, he cast lots. He soon discovered that the tortoise had sacrificed himself for the child, and that the child would therefore live, but he warned the chief that the Ekpinon ju-ju walked about when the sun was high up in the sky, and that he must never allow the child to go out in the middle of the day, as the ju-ju would kill him. The chief, with his wife and child, stayed three months at Abijon, and then returned to Okuni.

Since that time tortoises have always been sacrificed to the Ekpinon ju-ju, and the Okuni people always warn their children never to go out in the middle of the day, when the sun is high up, as they might meet the Ekpinon ju-ju without knowing it, and when they returned home they would get sick and die.

Told by Ennenni, an Okuni woman dancer.--[E.D., 17.6.10.]

XIV.--THE FATE OF AGBOR THE HUNTER, WHO KILLED HIS WIFE AND CHILDREN.

Agbor was an Okuni man, and was married to a woman named Awo, by whom he had two children, but they were both girls, much to his annoyance, as he wanted a boy who would be able to help him with his work when he grew up.

Agbor was a hunter and a trapper, and it was his custom to set traps all along the road to the boundary where the Okuni farms joined up with Insofan. Every morning he would start off with his bow and arrows to inspect his traps and take out anything he found in them, and sometimes, if he were lucky, he would shoot a buck or bush pig.

When he returned in the evening, Agbor used to worry his wife and tell her that he wanted a son, until at last Awo told her husband that, as she did not appear to be lucky with her children, he had better save up and buy a slave who could help him. This Agbor did, and after a time he managed to buy a slave called Edim. The slave always went with his master into the bush, and helped him with his trap-setting and carried the heavy loads.

One day Agbor caught a small bird in one of his traps, so he took it out very carefully and carried it home. He then made a cage for it, and fed it with seeds. Agbor warned his wife and two children that they were on no account to touch the bird, as he was very fond of it, and did not want any harm to happen to it. Then, for some time, Agbor took much trouble in taming the bird, and taught it to sing. In the evenings, when he returned from hunting, he used to take the bird round to some of the chiefs and head men of the town, and the bird used to sing to them. This pleased the chiefs so much that they used to give Agbor presents of tombo and yams.

One day, while Agbor and his slave Edim were absent in the bush hunting, one of Awo’s daughters opened the cage and let the bird fly away.

When the hunter returned, he found that his pet bird had gone, and he was very angry indeed, so he asked his wife who had let the bird go, and Awo told him. Agbor then got a cutting whip, and flogged his daughter very severely until the blood ran. Awo was much annoyed with her husband for beating the child, so she packed up all her things, and said she was going to return to her parents and would take her children with her. But Agbor would not let her go, and told her to go to bed and take her children with her.

Agbor then got his matchet, and having sharpened it on a stone, went into the house and cut his wife’s head off, and then killed his two children. When he had done this he was frightened, and ran away into the bush and hid himself.

The next morning at daylight Edim the slave went to wake his master as usual to go out and visit the traps, but he found that the hunter was absent. Edim then opened the door of Awo’s room, and looked in. There he saw the floor was covered with blood, and the three dead bodies were lying together on the bed.

Edim then ran out of the house shouting, and told the people of the town what he had seen, and that Agbor was not in the house. The people then went to the house to look at Awo and her children, and the father and brothers of Awo at once armed themselves and set off into the bush to find Agbor.

After searching for some time they found him setting one of his traps, so they surrounded and caught him; then, having tied him up securely with his hands behind his back, they brought him into the town and handed him over to the head chief.

The chief asked Agbor who had killed Awo and the two children, and he replied that he had done so as they had made him angry. He told the chief that one daughter had let his pet bird fly away, and when he flogged her the mother had threatened to leave him and to take the children with her. The chief told Agbor that he had no right to kill his wife and children, and sentenced Agbor to be killed by degrees.

He was then led away and tied up to a post in the middle of the town. A man with a sharp knife then cut off Agbor’s left hand. But Agbor said nothing, much to the disappointment of the people, who wished to hear him shout. So the torturer said, “Do you feel any pain, Agbor?” and he replied “No.” After a short time the man cut off Agbor’s right hand, and as he still remained quiet, the man asked him, “How do you feel now, Agbor?” He replied as before, that he did not feel any pain. Then they cut off his left foot, and still Agbor remained quiet.

The people were not at all satisfied with this, so they lit a fire and put Agbor’s right leg into it. The pain of the burning was so great that Agbor screamed with agony, but the people laughed and told him that he was now feeling what death was like, and to remember how he had killed his wife and children. Agbor implored the people to kill him at once, but they refused, and left him tied up to the post, where he died during the night from loss of blood.

When Agbor was dead, the father of Awo claimed his head, so it was cut off and given to him, and the body was buried.

He then buried the head for two weeks, until the ants and maggots had removed the flesh. He then dug the skull up again, and placed it on the ground outside the door of his house.

Then, every morning when he went out, he would hit the skull with his chewing-stick which he cleaned his teeth with, and say, “Ah, you killed my daughter, but I conquered you.”

From that time, whenever the Okuni people go to war, they put the skulls of their enemies whom they have killed on the ground, so that they can show them to all people as the heads of their enemies whom they have slain, and they always hit them with their chewing-sticks when they go out in the morning, saying, “I conquered you; I conquered you.”

Told by Ennenni of Okuni.--[E.D., 19.6.10.]

XV.--WHAT HAPPENED AT OKUNI WHEN ANYONE WAS KILLED BY ACCIDENT.

Many years ago there were two small boys living at Okuni, named Ori Namfup and Ori, they were great friends and always used to play together. One day in the rainy season when the native pear trees were covered with fruit, Ori said to his friend let us climb up to the top of two of these pear trees, and when we are high up we can play at stoning one another. They very soon climbed up to the highest branches of the trees, collecting the fruit as they went, and started throwing them at one another, when suddenly Ori lost his hold and fell to the ground, breaking his neck. Ori Namfup was very frightened, and ran into the town and told the people that Ori had fallen from a tree, and was dead. His friends then came and carried the body of Ori to the head chief. When the father of Ori heard that his son was dead, he went to the chief and demanded that Ori Namfup’s father should give him two slaves to replace the son he had lost. But the chief refused, and said that as Ori had been killed accidentally it was not right that two slaves should be given as compensation. But Ori’s father being obstinate and very headstrong, insisted upon his claim so fiercely that the chief gave in and ordered the slaves to be paid. Ori Namfup’s father then bought two slaves and handed them over to Ori’s father, in order to settle the matter and so that there should be no bad feeling between them.

The chiefs then made a law that, for the future, whenever a man killed another by accident, he should pay two slaves to the father of the dead man, but he should not be killed as he would have been if he had killed the man on purpose.

Told by Ennenni of Okuni.--[E.D., 19.6.10.]

XVI.--HOW OGHABI POISONED HIS FRIEND OKPA AND FAMILY, OR WHY A HOST SHOULD ALWAYS EAT FIRST FROM THE FOOD WHICH HE GIVES TO HIS GUESTS.