The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-10-09
SECRET SOCIETIES IN AFRICA.
Mystic Rites Which Bind the South
ern Natives Together.
From the Pail Mall Gazette.

From the Pail Mall Gazette
Spread throughout the west coast of
Africa from the inland regions of the
Gambia to the Cameroons, and probably
to the Congo, are, various native secret
societies, more or less connected with each
other, but of different degrees of power.
and all a danger to the peace of the vari-
Gus European colonies. That some Of
these have very sanguinary customs has
been known for the last fifty years. though
not to the general public. The latest let
ters tell US OF Bendi, Situated about a
hundred miles inland from Opobo' and
regarded as the headquarters of the long
juju,' and "the center of fetch rites in
that part of Africa" So far back as
lS48 Mr.. T. j. Hutchinson, consul of the
Blight of Biafra, said that there existed
in the Oru country in a direction trend
ing from Kalabar toward Abok, up the
river Niger, a spirit" superior to anv
other, even that of the juju in Old Kala-
bar, the country in which it dwelt being
termed that of 1.-THE long juju;" here re-
sided in a species of amphtheater sur
rounded by hills, a woman, a sort of Del
phic oracle, who was supposed to know
everything.
Once these societies are stamped out
the flrmer will be our hold on the west
coast Of Africa. There are two classes. OF
these secret organiza tons; the medical"
which comprises the Purroh found among
the finance Mendi and Sherbro tribes);
Wundy (among the MendD: ORC Yasey,
connected with the Purroh) Mannekeh
CTimanee and Lynda tribes). Telang Tim
anees, SherbrOs and some of the Mendis)
ana Dlamboe (MendD, etc. and the mys-
teal whose representatives are found
principally among the Lymbas, of which
are the kOfOng. Hangar. Kaymar and
Egbo Niger district A native African
writes of the Kofong that they profess
to have the power of trans formation; this
has been proved, he says, by the escape
OF many from the Freetown jail" in for
mer times, though we should imagine that
influence over superstitlous guards had
something more to do with their success.
The Aiyaka a branch of the Egbo. pro-
TESS to be able to conjure down cocoanuts
from a tree
All these societies have peculiar rituals.
grades of membership, passwords and
signs and many of them have special
dresses and bracelets. The grades of the
Purroh are as fololws: % Bangan, or
apprentice; 90 Pornor. or companion: (3)
Lakka, the herald; "a Ba Kasey the Jaw
yer; % PANAMA, the moderate tor: (6)
Ngaygbana, the revenger; "a Svekoe. or
Sopwaywee, the master of the habitation.
It would be too tedious here to describe
their various dresses and masks, and to
enumerate their duties: the Ngaygbana
wears bow and arrow on his uniform the
Sopwaywee has a headdress on which are
Sopwaywee has aheaddr1ss on which are
fixed two horses. The vicinity of a nab
itation can often be told by the peculiar
way in which certain grasses are tied
on plants or fruit trees, and a black man
not belonging to the society, if he no
ticed this, would wisely keep away from
that part of the bush. Many of the So
cieties possess medicines" or charms.
which enable them to detect culprits and
perform extraordinary feats, such as those
that have been seen by Englishmeu in
india among the fakirs. The idem or
of the spirit Of each par
iicular habltation. is an important person
in several of these societies. He collects
the members and acts as sort Of herald
or whipper-in of the Egbo societies, but he
Is not so important as the master Cor
head juju-man) of the habitation to which
he Is attached.
The Egbo, Kofong, etc, are religious.
these mystical societies have many more
ceremonies and are far more powerful
than the medical" Their various grades