The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1893-05-30
Copyrighted by The Constitution.

fire and listen to the tales of the days of
old. This silence on his part was remarked,
and one night he was urged by all of us
to speak, because it was unfair that those
who frequented our open-alr club should be
always ready to receive amusement, and
yet refuse to contribute his share to the
entertainment. This kind of argument
pushed him, brought him at last to admit
that he owed the party debt i'll kind, and
said:
''Well, friends, each man according to
his nature, though there are so many men
in the world they differ from one another
as much as stones. no two of which are
exactly alike. Here is Baruti here, who
never seems to tire of speech. while | find
more pleasure in watching his lips move
up and down. and his tongue pop out and
in, than in using my own. | cannot remem-
Der any legend that is the truth, but [
know of something that occurred in our
country relating to Izola-a woman orig
inally of Umane, the big town above Ba-
soko-which is not fiction. lzoka the
queen of the pool, as we call her, is alive
now. and should you ever pass by Umane
again you may ask any of the natives
if my words are true, and you will hrd
''Izoka is the daughter of a chief of
Umane whose name was Cyimba, and her
mother was Twckay One of the young
warriors called Iohu lifted his eyes to-
wards her. and as he had house of his
own which was empty, he thought lzoka
ought to be the one to keep the hearth
warm, and keep him company while he
went fishing. The idea became fixed in
his mind and he applied to her father, and
the dowry was demanded; and, though it
was heavy, it was paid to ease his longing
after her.
Now, Izoka was in every way fit to be
a chiefs wife. She was tall, slender, come
ly of person, her skin like down to the
touch, her kindly eyes trimming over with
pleasantness, her teeth like white beads
and her ready laugh was such that all who
heard it compared it to the sweet sounds
of a flute which the perfect player loves to
make Before he begins tune, and men
moods became merry when she passed them
in the village Well. she became kolus
wife. and she left her father 5 house to
live with her husband
AT first it seemed that they were born
for one another.
Though Koku was no mean fisherman,
his wife cxccled him in every way. Where
one fish came into his net, ten entered INTO
that of Izoka, and this great success
brought him abundance. His canoe return
eel daily loaded with fish, and on reaching
home they had as much work to clean and
cure the fish as they could manage. Their
daily catch would have supported quite
village of people from starving. they,
therefore. disposed OF their surplus stock
Inv bartcring the fish for slaves and goats,
and fowls. and hoes, carved paddles and
swords. and Koku became the WealthIeSt
among the chiefs of Umane through the
good fortune that attended lzoka in what
ever she did.
Most men would have considered them
selves highly favored in having such for
innate wives, but it was not so with l\oku-
He became a changed man. Prosperity
nroyed his hane. He went no more WIN
lzoka to fish: he seldom visited the market
in her company, nor the heldS Where Ihe
slaves were at work, planting manioc, or
wedding the plantain rows, or clearing the
iuoola He might always be seen with his
lone pine boozing, with Wretched ldIefS'
ON the MAINTAIN wine purchased with MS
,,.ifr'. ministry: and when he came nome 1t
was to storm ut his VIE III suFh d h'i''NA
tbut she could only bow to 1t IN silence,
when I<ollu was most hii'H Win Il'li;e
no had IN irritating way OF uiN%uiSiES us
,nitnrulunss with Il wicked smile Whltc HIS
tnur,Ir EXPRESSED all sorts Of contrary ian
ciAs He would take delight Ill saying lHat
hrr smooth skin was rs rough as t!lS lp'l
with which We polish our spear SA"i .,
that she was dumpy and dWafhSh' thal
her mouth reminded hlm OF Il croC"ulle ~
and her ears of an apes; her legs were
,rool,nd ana her feet were hoolS, anu she
was srorncd for even her nails, when were
worn to the quick with household toh' any any
be he continued i'll this style to FeA hGr' ultlh
hr became persuaded that 1t was she VINO
tormpnted him. Ihen he accuSeu iVh ~
z,itrhcraft He said that ii was by h"r
,vi,rh's medicines that she caught SO many
fsh and he knew that some day she Wouid
,nisou him Now. in our country inns is
= very serious accusation. f1oNNtr' sue
mover crossed her husband huInor' puI r.
ceiyed the bitterness WIN closed ups, us
si,nnt habit of hers made matters worse.
,rhn more patience she showed the louder
his accusations became. and the worse she
.nnearpd in his eyes. Ana, lntceu, 1t Is
no wonder. If you make up your NINA
that you will see naught III a Wl1e bul lauitS
you become blind to everything olSt.
Her cooking was yle-there was elthrr
ton much naIln oil or too little i'll the hPrb
mess. there. was sand i'll the meat OF ne
fish the fowls were nothing but bones Sue
was said to empty the chill pot INTO TIE
STOW Ihe bnusn was not clean. there were
snakes in his beti-and on and so on
Then she threatened, when her tough pa-
tience quite broke down, that she would
tnll hpr father if he did not GcSlSt which
So enraccd him that he took thick stuck
and beat hoy so cruelty that she was nearly
dead This was too much 10 bear from one
SO ungrateful, and she resolved to clone
into tie woods and live apart from All
mankind.
,'Shc had Travelled good two days jour,
ncy when she came IN sight 81
II lengthy ard wide pool which
was fed by many springs
ana borderpd by tail. bending reeds; and
the view of this body of water, backed by
depp weeds all around. appeared 50 pleasing
that she chose a level place near its edge
for her resting place. Then she unstrapped
her hamper and sat down to make her
plans. After Il while she turned out the
things she had brought il order to see what
could be don" by her There was wedge
like AK which could also be used as an
adzc, there were two hoes, Il handy Ba-
soko bill hook, Il couple of small nets, II
ladle half Il dozen small gourds. Il cooking
pot some small fish knives, Il bunch of
finder Il couple of fire sticks Il short stick
of sugar cane. two banana bulbs. a few
beads. iron bangles and tiny copper balls.
As she looked over all these things she
smiled with satisfaction and thought she
would manage we'll through She then
into Ln r. Nd