, 1889-03-02
goats, and sheep, quantities of fowls and

town Of BOnRy, which has been known to-
Europeans some two hundred years, and
whose present reigning chief is the deScen'
dAnt of q family which has ruled BOnnycou-
tItinOuSiy for nearly the same period. 6iAl-
though In some respects BOnIy, from the
great facilities it offers aS II harbour, pro.
misses to he one of the chief pIaceS1Of the
delta, yet 1t is ut present far behind Old
Oal8bar in size and condition. The native
town il p foul, unhealthy collection OF ma
tive huts AMI ludicrouSly ugly limitations
Of European houses roughly put together
with bits Of corrugated iron, deal planks
and Crumbling bricks. The various towns
OF the district known rs New Callahan,
and, Of Brass, are somewhat better built,
larger and cleaner than B0nDy, out their
general character il the same. OkFlka,
where the recent maSsaCres AMI outbreak
of canibalism have taken place, is u par
ticularly dirty warren of Il place, about ~
or 80 miles north OF BOnny. Behind the
town of Okrika, however, is good tirm
land of red clay, covered in parts with
rich forest, in others affOrding good pas
turages for the large herds OF cattle kept
by the Okrika people. Okrika is but a
short distance from the large Ib0 town OF
Bende, the centre of the local slave and
ivory trade.
4uG UlSUKlCU WutCu ltCS OCUWOCu wv "A'N
dEeton river on tle west, aud the AHd0nI
river on the east of Benny, and including
the extreme lower Niger, is inhabited by
the large Ijo tribe, who are farther con-
nected lingulstically with the SObOS, who
inhabit the country between the Benno
river and the Wari branch of the Niger.
The language of the IjOS-which has about
six dialectS-and the related speech OF the
SObos are very remarkable; they a'e utter
II disimilar to the surrounding languages,
and, as far as we yet know, only offer Il
vague resemblance to certain languages on
the Upper Niger. 1t would seem as though
the IjOS represented an ancient migration
into the delta, which has been cut OIL ana
ciTcumsCribed by relatively alien races,
such US the Ib0s, KwOs, and JekriS, on the
north, east, and west. The ljOs represent
today the ruling people of the extreme
lower Niger, Of Brass, of New CaIabar,
Bonny, and OpobO. In times past they
were fanatic adherentS of q savage type
of animistic religion. Like the majority OF
the Africans, they did not know or con-
ceive of the existence of one. supreme Co..
but embodied u number OF natural prlncl'
pies in the forms OF certain animals, or III a
concrete representation of 'tetlSheS' or
idols. .@,,.
Zach little community has its "tOtem'"
or sacred animal, IN whose SpecleS' the an
cestral Spirit-the soul Of he tribe, so TO
speak-was supposed to dwell. Thus, i'll
Brass. they worship the python snake ;
in Benny, the monitor lizard. Only nine
or ten years ago this animal worship
was so real that The British authorities III
the Oil Rivers were compelled to afford 1t
a certain amount of recognition. K uropeanS
were forbidden to kill the sacred lizard OF
BOnny, or the still more sacred serpent OF
Brass, and were heavily fined by their
consul if they infringed this prohibition.
On one OCCASION, in Brass, SOME ten or
eleven years ago, All agent OF MesSrS.
HattOn and COpkSOn's 6rln found a large
python in his house, and killed il. When
the misdeed became known, the Brass PEG.
pie made q descent on the factory, dragged
the agent out of the house on to the beach
tied him up by his thumbs, spat IN his
mouth, md inhi0red other iudignities on him.
They then broke open the store and took
out ahont 20l worth of goods, which they. j.
copdScatpd. The British Consul bearing OF
the disturbance, arrived in Brass, consider
ed the case. and was unable to afford the
agent any redress, because he was suppoS-
edit . have brought the punishment upon
himself. i
AZ Benny the monitor lizards became a
sickenihg nuisance. They dtYOurtd the :
Europeans'' fowls, turkeys, ducks, and
geese with impunitY ; they might lie across