New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1854-08-11
WESTERN AFRICA.
THE KINGDOM OF YoRUBA-NAME OF THE
TRIBE.
Fan Oar Own Correspondent


Fan Oar Own Correspondent -
IyAYE, January, 1854.
There are two sources from which We may attempt
10 derive the word Yoruba According TO the first it
means The great rrr epithet applied by Africans to
the Niger. An ancient word represented by the iie
brew ord gar ya0r river, has been preserved in
different forms in Europe Asia and Africa. II occurs
rs n CONN on noun in the Egyptian orat and the Fua
goru river aud perhaps in such words as the Greek
Ludor water, the Yoruba odo, collection Of water,
ard even in the English, rater All this will not seem
40 improbable to those who have amused themselves by
observing the numerous instances Of interchange be-
tween o. j. H. r, O. and p, as also of and aud r,
&c. in coenate words Of different languages. 1t sp
FEARS that gar has also been preserved in proper names
as Jordan, Garonne, Yarmouth, Zaire, Quorra, Zoa,
Joa, Yaori larro, &c.
The syllable ba, often changed into pa, Jd tu &c,
denotes paternity in several widely separated Ian
suages as boJa in the IIadsa, Fua and foruba, abba
in the Syrac aba in the Abyssnian papa IN the Latin,
poter In the Greek all of which mean the same az the
eosnate Germanic word father In some African Ian
guaees ia means great still perhaps retaining the idea
Of paternity and in this 1t is affixed 10 the name
of the Niger, JOlipa, fOltibd which signifies the
great river IL is true that bd also means river in the
Mandingo tongue, (and is then perhaps c0gnate with
the Arabic Jakr and the Hebrew gar but in this
it 10 prefxed to the proper names OF streams, as Ba
Fling, Ba Jaih.
In ancient times, as we may suppose, when people
emigrtted travelled from Barn6, Ha0sa &c, TO the
Johba or Goruta-that u.s. to the great river Hence
these words became the Of q country and we're
finally restricted TO the present Kingdom OF fOruba
which to this day is known IN the interior by different
names, as Yoriba Yariba and Yarba, though the ma
tiy,s of the country itself always call YOruba. lrav
eers obtained the name Yarrba from their Ha0sa IN
terpreters In like manner they were misled to call
Await the capital OF YOruba, Katunga and Eyeo Va
rous other names which they have gwen were never
known in IOruba. 80.
TIe second conjecture az TO the origin of this
is derived from African traditions. The fOrubas say
that their ancestors sent IRON the East oy some
person Of distinction, who gave the leader OF tne party
Instructions for their government. III their Journey
tbey waded through vast shallow water, but finally
arrived ia this country where they founded the city Of
Itch which is still existing. This tradition Is mixed
with fables.
of their female ancestors whom they call lyammoddeh,
which suppose to be iva ommOh Oddeh the mother of
the hunters children The headquarters OF this idol
is at Iteh Who this mighty hunter was they seem not
to know or to inquire. His wife, however, had SIX
sons, among whom Yoruba the youngest became chief
For some time the whole tribe constituted one king
dom and the royal family belonged to the sub-trbe OF
Yoruba Benin, called by them IbInin, became indie
pendent great while ago; jebu, Egba and lketu IN
more recent times. 49,
Belle, prince OF the Fuas Fellatas) in Hadsa, com
posed a work in Arabic entitled 1.-The DISCOVER OF
..Dficultes in the History of TakrOOr" or Central
Africa. The Appendix to Denham and ClaPpertons
Travels contains q brief extract from this work
made by one Of BeO's learned men and translated IN
England From this extract it appears the author has
compiled any traditions in reference to the origin OF
various tribes the Interior IN dong winch ne refers
to records existing among the negroes OF Central
Africa where should little expect to ma any MS
tCrical documents. IL does not appear when or III
what language they were written. ~
Of the Youbas BelO says, 1.-The inhabitants OF this
proyince it supposed originated from the remnant OF
the children Of Canaan, who were OF the trloe OF MIN
"rCd. The cause OF their establishment III western
Africa was as it is stated in consequence OF their
.sbeinp driven by Yaa-rOOba, of kahtan, out OF
Arabia TO the western coast between Egypt ana ADys
"nia From that spot they advanced INTO the interior
of Africa till they reached Yarba where they hxed
their residence. On their way they iei', III every
"place they stopped at tribe OF their own people
thus it is supposed that all the tribes OF Sudan,
"(Central Africa,) who iDhabit the mountains, are
"derved from them as also the inhabitants OF aom
The translator appends note IN winch ne states on
the authority of MassOOd that kahtan, father OF va
rba repped over Yemen in the days Of Heber grand
son of ,Shem. The names faruba ana iarioa OF
Yoruba are so similar in form that it excites desire
10 know whether the one has been derived from the
other.
perjor In appearance intellect civilization, morals and
everything else 10 some others. Some among tDen,
as among the Eboes, are as white as mulattoes'
Only few days ago, l heard man from I to;I1
(Alore) describing to several men OF Daye the Duid-
inc of the tower of Babel, which he called by no
name and the confusion of tongues. lie SAID that
every man and his wife and children suddenly began ~
speak new language, and that the iOruoa tr'oe oi8
mated then and there in the man ana woman from Who"
they are descended. The man was raised MahOm
medan which may account for his knowledge OF scrlp
ture history But from one cause and another the
people of Central Africa generally are not hall so To-
norant as white people often suppose.