, 1889-03-02

might have been accidentally killed.. o.
our. canOQS-Our only means of regalllDg
civilisatinn-sunk or disabled, consequent
" | decided to turn back. Then ensue9
an awful afternoon, when for miles ana
miles we had to run the gauntlet past
populous villages of cannibals. whom We
had had much difficulty in avoiding on our
ascent of the river; and who, taxing QUE
retreat for a flight, seemed bent ON captuE-.
ing uS or plundering our canoes ana eatihg
the wretched KrubOys, who turnea olue
with fright at the prospect OF Oelng ealenG
Us they desperately padded down FlVeE
past Shrieking natives, who Waue0 ou"
into the shadows, or pursued US in canoes.
Every now and again we would stick on
"a sandbank, and the shouts of the natives
would come nearer and nearer, then we
would get off again, and paddle Tor our
lives, then stick again, and SO on, III! az
last we were out OF this savage district:
| hesitate to say hostile, for wherever
landed, or was captured, l was always
well treated as soon as they 1onn0 out
what [ was like and what my objects were
in visiting their country. At length We
arrived in the delightful district OF Apia.
pun, where we put up tor a week AT ING
clean aud comfortable town OF Oturekpe,
whose chief and people were some, or the
incest, kllulI0StS uIOSl IttLAOAS OAM q ASN~3
ever encountered in Africa, although they
were in their own practical way cannlOals'
like their neighbours-that is to say, they
were given 10 eating the flesh of all whom
they might catch i'll war. | did not here
observe that other kind of cannlballsm
which / have occasionally met with Oh the
Upper Cross river, which is of a sentiment
al character, namely, where the old. people
Of tile tribe, when they become toOthleSS
and useless, are knocked Oh the head.
Sm~oke.dried, pounded into a paste, and
re.abSOrbed into the bosom of the family
On the Upper Cross liver there is direct
contact with the Mahommedah SOudan. and
in the country OF Atam, horses have been
introduced from the north. Interesting to
me a. the Cross river district is, L cannot
here dilate any further OH its features, but
must c~ontinue my review of the remaining
part of the British Protectorate of the OH
Rivers. - .'i
Westward of Old Oalabar, the first impor-
tant trading centre we come to is Op0OO,
on the OpObO river, the right and left banks
of which stream, near its mouth, are Occll'
pied by a Furnishing European settlement,
and about Ave miles from the sea is the not
very large, but closely packed and squalid
native town. The OpObo river leads one in
to the heart of the OpobO country, inhabited
by the industrious IbO race, which Occu'
pies the lower Niger, just above the delta"
and extends thence to the right bank of
the Cross river. The hos are cannibalS,
but their cannibaliSm is not of a ferOciOnS
type, and rather seems to mean the OCcG.
SiOnal eating of superauouS slaves, or the
celebration of sacrifices on the death Of
a great man. The Ibo country is denSely
populated. Their tOwns are of . very dis.
t.inct character, with rectangular houses
we'll built OF clay and tllatch, interspersed
among groups of magnificent trees, which
are purpoSelypreServed and cultivated by
the citizens. Among these are noticeable
Drac;enas of great height, with red tr1nks
and dark green spiky fr-like foliage. The.
Ibo towns are never crowded, each house
or little group of houses standing by itself
in an independent compound. The open
spaces iii the town are kept scrupulOusIy
clean, being frequently swept with brooins
made out of twigS and palm frOndS, which
are industriously piled by the boys and
youths who keep the town in order. In
the vicinity of this settlement, there are
dense groves of the Oil-palm, and thriving
plantations Of maize, yams, beans, and
col0casIa atums. "t.i '".' 80 ~
The Ibos are exceedingly Industrious
people. They weave grass-cloth, and dis
play a very marked aesthetic taste in the
designing of their Implements and textile
f.hr;rS and In fha infnri0r 1aoora ion IF