Elphinstone Dayrell

“ Inkang’s curiosity was immediately aroused, so he went to his wife and helped her to place the basket carefully on the ground. Then they opened the basket together, and, to the chief’s intense surprise and joy, he saw a fat little baby boy lying smiling in the bottom of the basket, half covered with mushrooms. He then embraced his wife, who told him all that had happened in the forest.
Inkang then said, “We must hide the boy in the house until he grows up, so that the people will not know what we have got.”
Igiri took great care of the child for the next six years, and he grew up a strong boy. ”

“ In the olden days there was a very fine young hen who lived with her parents in the bush.
One day a hawk was hovering round, about eleven o'clock in the morning, as was his custom, making large circles in the air and scarcely moving his wings. His keen eyes were wide open, taking in everything (for nothing moving ever escapes the eyes of a hawk, no matter how small it may be or how high up in the air the hawk may be circling) . This hawk saw the pretty hen picking up some corn near her father's house. ”

“ I want you to make them strong and so that they will not receive any wounds from their enemies. If you help me, when the war is over, I will bring all the heads of the men we kill to you as tribute. I will also bring the prisoners we capture and kill them before you as a sacrifice.”
The chief then put his hand into the ju-ju pot containing water, rotten eggs, and mashed-up leaves and roots, and having stirred it well up, the fighting men all came up to him one after another, and he smeared them with the liquid on the forehead and breast. ”

“ When the palaver was over, Adiaha was dressed in fine clothes and beads, and carried back in state to the palace by the king's servants.
That night the king gave a big feast to all his subjects, and told them how glad he was to get back his beautiful wife whom he had never known properly before, also his son who was stronger than all men, and his fine daughter. The feast continued for a hundred and sixty-six days; and the king made a law that if any woman was found out getting medicine against her husband, she should be killed at once. ”

“ XXIV.—How ’Nyambi punished Chief Oga for trying to commit adultery
with his wife Obim.
There was once a fine strong man living at Okuni, whose name was ’Nyambi. He was a good dancer, drum-beater and singer, and these qualities, combined with his good looks and fine manly beauty, won him the admiration of many of the young Okuni girls. He knew many of them, but never asked them to marry him. ”

“ As the king bird is always very difficult to shoot with a bow and arrow, owing to his sharp and keen sight, the young men, when they want his feathers, set traps for him baited with rats, which catch him by the foot in a noose when he seizes them. Except when they are nesting the king birds roost on very high trees, sometimes as many as twenty or thirty on neighbouring trees. They fly many miles from where they get their food, and arrive at their roosting-place just before the sun sets, leaving the next morning at dawn for their favourite haunts. ”

“ In the days when the elephant was king over all the beasts of the forest, it was the custom for all the animals to go once a year and make the elephant’s farm for him. They cleared all the bush and planted his yams and plantains. On these occasions the elephant always entertained the animals, and when the work was finished the elephant gave them food. Now, although the python never did any work on the farm, he always attended the feasts and, being very greedy, eat more than his share of the food. ”

“ Why should not the fair heroine, Adet, daughter of the tortoise, be the daughter of human parents? The tale would be none the less interesting, and a good deal more credible to the mature intelligence. ”

“ This is the reason why hawks always take chickens wherever they find them, and in those days the people never thought of making any trouble with the hawk, as he had a right to the chickens, but nowadays when a hawk swoops down and seizes a chicken, the people shout out and try to kill him, as they have forgotten the story of how the twin child Agbor was redeemed by a basket of eggs. ”

“ The king makes a law that any girl prettier than the prince's fifty wives shall be put to death, with her parents. Who is to be the Paris, and give the fatal apple to the most fair? Obviously the prince is the Paris. He falls in love with Miss Tortoise, guided to her as he is by the bird who is "entranced with her beauty." In this tribe, as in Homer's time, the lover offers a bride-price to the father of the girl. In Homer cattle are the current medium; in Nigeria pieces of cloth and brass rods are (or were) the currency. Observe the queen's interest in an affair of true love. ”

“ She also took some to Chief Kaku, and said, “If you love me, you will eat my fish; but if you refuse, then I shall know that you do not care for me, and I shall not marry you, but will return at once to my father at Okuni.” But the chief said, “No one ever eats that fish, as it has a smooth skin and is part of the water ju-ju. If anyone eats that fish, he will surely die.” Then ’Ndere said, “Yes, my parents also will not eat this fish, but there is always one man who starts back first from the farm, and then the other people follow. I have eaten the fish and found it good, and have not died. ”

“ When they arrived there, the head chief stood up and addressed the people. "This is a small town of which I am chief, and I am determined to stop this bad custom, as so many men have been killed." He then told a man who had a sharp matchet to cut off one man's head. He then told another man who had a sharp knife to skin another young man alive. A third man who had a heavy stick was ordered to beat another to death, and so the chief went on and killed all the thirty-two young men in the most [152] horrible ways he could think of. ”

“ That night the hawk told the eagle that it was the cock and hens who told the bush cow to wave his arm over his horns, otherwise he never would have been found. So the eagle sent for them and said, “It was you who told the bush cow where the hawk was hiding and in consequence I have had to pay a large amount to the antelope as a punishment; for the future I shall allow the hawk to always kill your children whenever he can catch them.” ”

“ After this, Emme treated the slave girl in the same way as she had treated her little sister. She made her put her fingers in the fire, and burnt her with sticks. She also made her beat foo-foo with her head in a hollowed-out tree, and after a time she was tied up to a tree and starved to death.
Ever since that time, when a man marries a girl, he is always present when she comes out of the fatting-house and takes her home himself, so that such evil things as happened to Emme and her sister may not occur again. ”

“ They were very fond of Indoma, as he was a just man.
A few years after they had built their compound, the two adjoining countries, Inde and Akparabong, made war against the Inkum, but Chief Indoma, who was skilled in warfare, led his people so well and wisely that both countries were driven back, and they have occupied the land ever since.
Indoma had two sons by his wife Isibe, whose names were Agatin and Ogum. When they were grown up, Chief Indoma died. All the country people were very sorry, and a big play was held, and the mourning was kept up for a long time. ”

“ In the olden days when Effiong was king of Calabar, it was customary at that time for rulers to give big feasts, to which all the subjects and all the birds of the air and animals of the forest, also the fish and other things that lived in the water, were invited. All the people, birds, animals, and fish, were under the king, and had to obey him. His favourite messenger was the hawk, as he could travel so quickly. ”

“ The people of Ikom therefore warned their children never to go by themselves to the farms unless they knew the road very well indeed, as if they took the wrong path and went to the town where the wooden drum lived, they would be swallowed up and would disappear for ever.
In those days a man called Okongo Osim lived at Ikom. He had a very beautiful wife whose name was Inkang Ezen. They only had one child, Ibanang Okpong by name, and both the father and mother were very fond of her. ”

“ When they came to the battlefield the moving band spread out, and as the thousands upon thousands of ants rolled up, the whole piece of ground was a moving mass of ants and bunches of struggling worms. The fight was over in a very few minutes, as the worms were bitten in pieces by the sharp pincer-like mouths of the driver ants. The few worms who survived squirmed away and buried themselves out of sight. ”

“ Ogbaja got up early in the morning, and took his bow and arrows with him to hunt; then as he went along he left a trail of ashes behind him, which Nara followed, and at last came to the mango tree, where she found Ogbaja picking up the fruit.
Her son said “Why do you come here? If you had waited at home, I would have brought you some fruit.” But his mother told him that she wanted to get the fruit herself, and commenced gathering the mangoes and eating some of the ripe ones.
Ogbaja said, “I cannot take you home, as I must go out hunting to get food. ”

“ She was in great distress at the thought that she would lose her son, of whom she was very proud, as she knew that when the king heard of his son's disobedience he would kill him. However, the queen, although she knew how angry her husband would be, wanted her son to marry the girl he had fallen in love with, so she went to the tortoise and gave him some money, clothes, yams, and palm-oil as further dowry on her son's behalf in order that the tortoise should not give his daughter to another man. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The elephant and the hippopotamus always used to feed together, and were good friends.
One day when they were both dining together, the tortoise appeared and said that although they were both big and strong, neither of them could pull him out of the water with a strong piece of tie-tie, and he offered the elephant ten thousand rods if he could draw him out of the river the next day. The elephant, seeing that the tortoise was very small, said, "If I cannot draw you out of the water, I will give you twenty thousand rods." ”

“ At last some of the young men, who were very anxious to possess the pretty daughter of the bush buck as a wife, asked the father to reduce the amount of dowry to such an amount as they would be able to pay. As the bush buck was very fond and proud of his daughter and did not want to part with her, he refused to reduce the dowry, but told the young men and animals that he would give them all another chance of winning his daughter, and that was, if any one could beat him in a race he would hand his daughter over to the winner as his wife without any dowry at all. ”

“ So the cock said, “What you are looking for is sitting on your head; if you wave one of your arms over your head you will find what you want.” The bush cow would not believe the cow at first, and all the birds continued to laugh at him. At last, however, the bush cow did as the cock suggested, to find out if what he had said was true, and at once the hawk flew up and was seen by the bush cow who at once galloped off and told the antelope that he had found the hawk and had very nearly caught him with his hoof. ”

“ Though she knows that her son's life is endangered by his honourable passion, she adds to the bride-price out of her privy purse. It is "a long courting"; four years pass, while pretty Adet is "ower young to marry yet." The king is very angry when the news of this breach of the royal marriage Act first comes to his ears. He summons the whole of his subjects, his throne, a [ix] stone, is set out in the market-place, and Adet is brought before him. He sees and is conquered.
"It is no wonder," said the king,
"This tortoise-girl might be a queen." ”

“ When the king thought of the plover tribe, the sea-birds, including the pelicans, the doves, and the numerous shy birds who live in the forest, all of whom sent in claims, he got so confused, that he decided to have a trial by ordeal of combat, and sent word round the whole country for all the birds to meet the next day and fight it out between themselves, and that the winner should be known as the king bird ever afterwards. ”

“ Now Tawn had a wife called Osegi, who was a very good-natured woman, which was lucky for the grasshopper as things turned out.
When Tawn had embraced his future son-in-law, he ordered a cow to be killed to welcome him. And when the people brought the food, they said, “Here is the stranger’s portion.” Immediately the spider said to his friend, “Did you hear that, Dabi? Your name was not mentioned, so you have no right to this food, which is all for me, ‘the stranger.’” But the grasshopper kept quiet and never said a word to anyone, although he was very hungry. ”

“ When all the people were working, including the women and children on the farm, Eba always stood with his father in the shade of a tree throughout the heat of the day, and when it was time to go home in the evening, and all the others were carrying heavy loads, some of firewood, and others of food, Eba only carried his father’s bag, containing his snuff and horn. After the bush had been cut and burnt, and the ground prepared for the farm the Chief waited until some heavy rains had fallen, and then proceeded to distribute the yams for planting. ”

“ Although they missed the pretty stranger, they never connected her in their minds with the death of their king, and were quite unsuspicious of any danger, and were unprepared for fighting. In the middle of the mourning, while they were all dancing, crying, and drinking palm wine, the king of Itu with all his soldiers attacked Old Town, taking them quite by surprise, and as their leader was dead, the Calabar people were very soon defeated, and many killed and taken prisoners.
Moral.—Never marry a stranger, no matter how pretty she may be. ”

“ When the gun was fired off and Obim was declared to be ’Nyambi’s wife, Chief Oga was very vexed, and, although he wanted to speak to Obim, he dared not do so openly, as he thought the people might laugh at him if they saw him going after a woman who had only just been married, seeing that he had so many wives already himself. So, when it was dark, he went to Obim and told her that if she came to him he would make her very happy, as he had plenty of slaves who would do all the hard work and she would not have to toil in the sun. ”

“ In the beginning of the world when the Creator had made men and women and the animals, they all lived together in the creation land. The Creator was a big chief, past all men, and being very kind-hearted, was very sorry whenever any one died. So one day he sent for the dog, who was his head messenger, and told him to go out into the world and give his word to all people that for the future whenever any one died the body was to be placed in the compound, and wood ashes were to be thrown over it ”

“ Whenever a sacrifice was about to be made, all the people who belonged to the society used to meet together and sit down all round the ju-ju, but as the law of the ju-ju was that no man should open his legs, the people always tied their knees and ankles together with tie-tie, because if anyone opened his legs he would at once get elephantiasis. ”