The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1910-06-28

| Ill
marked in red, you will find
~ on the west coast a splash OF
06l color now known as British
M Nigeria, three times the size
lFH) of the British isles and COW
ITl ering 100000 square miles Of
country, Running up through
Nigeria Is the wonderful River Niger.
the birthplace of which was for ages
as mysterious as that of the Nile it.
self. 1t Is with some Of the people
who live along the banks of the river
that I now propose to deal. They are
among the latest of the kings sub
lects, for 1t was only in 1900 that they
came under direct imperial admins
tration
Near the coast the land Is low ly-
Ing and swampy. But as the interior
Is reached there rise plateau after pla-
teau. until at last high mountains are
discovered. Climate and environment
play an important part in the charac-
teristics of people. Accordingly,
among the natives of the Niger delta.
living In the malaria-soaked mangrove
swamps, there Is constant disease, and
the negroes are addicted to every kind
Of foul custom and superstition. When,
however. higher country is reached,
where there are grassy plains and
hills studded with fine trees, a brave
and warlike type of negroes is en-
countered, men who are altogether In
O hfohnr to< 80 ~
There is something terribly eerie
about the dark forests which cling to
the Shiny and foul-odored banks of the
Lower Niger. Along the innumerable
creeks the heavily leaved branches of
the mangrove trees are so interlaced
that the light Is completely shut out
The mal0rodous air, which sucks all
the vitality out of the white man, Is
steamy, and the squelching mud Is full
Of appalling and vile-looking creatures.
Alongside these black recesses live
the negroes whom l have called the
men Of the mangrove swamps Some
thing Of the horribleness of the sur
roundtngs seems to have entered into
their natures. for they take f1endish
delight In murder and torture and In
practices of the most revolving charac-
ter. The impression on the mind of
the traveller when his canoe pushes
up one Of the network of creeks, and
In the blackness of the forest, so
strange and so weird after the flaming
light outside. he suddenly comes
across village of waited huts and
low-caste natives, completely naked,
with tattoOing or raised scars upon
their black skins, Is never eradicated
as long as memory holds.
Life is one long terror to them.
They believe In ghosts which kill with
spears, they believe that constantly on
the steamy waters are travelling misty
canoes. hurrying the living to the re-
g1ons OF the accursed; and they are
sure OF the existence of evil spirits
which kill without a wound, or which
mark their visit by daubing the huts
with blood, and sometimes even filling
the cooking pots with blood.
Away In the most inaccessible cor
ners of the bush. SO hidden that you
can approach within few yards with
out knowledge that you are close to a
settlement. live the Ibibios, who are
among the lowest of the tribes Of the
Niger delta. Their villages are re-
moved from the native roads, prob
ably to escape the notice of slave ira
ders. who used to be very active in
these parts. By the roadsides may be
seen spirit houses for the reception of
the souls Of men between death and
reincarnation.
Until the coming Of the British-and
even now In remote districts-these
people INDUCED In cannibalism. Thew
made human sacrifices. AS the birth
Of twins was considered of evil omen.
the mother and her children were al.
ways slaughtered. Since British rule
has been exercised these atrocities
have been prohibited, and thus when.
ever disaster comes to the Ibibios thew
always ascribe 1t to their being pre.
vented from making sacrifices to an.
pease the devils Of the woods.
The most important race on the
lower Niger. and living further inland
are the hos. The people speaking the
Ibo language number some millions
though, Of course, how many exactlv
1t Is impossible to say. They are not
very big men. rarely taller than five
and half feet, but they are we'll made
and muscular. and the women have
skins so black and so bright that thew
look like ebony. When young thew
are often rather handsome, but az
they reach manhood or womanhood
they become either very fat or very
thin. The black mans ideal beautiful
girl Is a very plump one, and accord.
ingly before marriage the bride IL
specially fattened, 80 that her spo,
may be all the better pleased with
her.
The hos are great fishermen and
spend much of their time In that MIR.
suit, leaving most Of the trade in the
hands OF the women. They have towns
and these, as we'll as the villages are
governed by chiefs recognized by the
British government, each Of whom has
sworn allegiance to the local king The
streets are grassy lanes, across which