Bisbee daily review. [volume] (Bisbee, Ariz.) 1901-1971, 1914-03-05
WOULD YOU LIKE TO
LIVE IN HAPPY LAND
WITH THE EK0|S 7
African Explorer Tells of In
teresting Utopia Where
There Are No Taxes and
But Little Work Done

WASHINGTON, March with no
lakes to pay and no wearisome re-
strictions TO undergo. living In a land
so fruitful that few weeks labor
is enough to supply them with food,
home and clothes for whole year,
the Ekoi, natives of extreme southern
Nigeri. on he Equator, should be, and
probably are, among the happiest
people on earth. according to p. A.
Talbot, African explorer,of Tendon,
England.in a communication 10 the
National Geographic Society, at Wash
ington.D. c.
The Ekoi are devoted parents"
he writes. They have curious beliefs
as to the advent ana dea.hof their
babies. One charming superstition
forbids all quarreling in house
house where there are little children.
The latter. so they say. love sweet
words, kind looks. and gentle voices.
andif these are not found in the fam
lily into which they have been re.
incarna.ed. they will close their eyes
and forsake the earth till a chance
offers to return again amid less quar-
relsome surroundings.
To the Excl, dancing lis one OF
the main occupations of life. With
them the dance provides an outlet
both for the dramatic instinC. and
for religious fervor. At the new year.
and on all great festivals. the chief
lsodle,es'of men, women hn1 chill
dren come up to the station to give
a series of dances. TIE Ekio are a
polygamous people, but the chief
wife, me- the husband, is the head Of
the house. Each wife has control Of
her children, who almost invariably
20 with her II she leaves her husband
and her rights as to property are most
strictly safeguarded BY native law
Mr.. Talbot recounts one OF he
many legends of the country, explain
ing the position which woman holds.
AZ the beginning of things the legend
runs, the world was pebpled by
women only. one day the earta-god,
Awbassi Nsi, happened by accident
to kill a woman. Awbassi, sorry for
the grief he had cause, offered to
give them anything they should choose
oui. Of all his possessions. They
begged him to mention what had TO
giver and )sa.d they would all cry
Yes" when he named the right
thing which they wished to have. At
length the list was nearly ended ;
one thing remained 70 OFFER and that
was a man. They shouted Yes
and, catching hold of one another.
started dancing for Joy. They took
man, therefore, as compensation for
the fe.low-woman they had lost. an
thus the men became the servants
of women, having to work for them
TO this day.
The religious observances OF The
Ekoi are altogether fascinating
study" continues Mr. Talbot. BE
meath many modern corruptions and
dlsfigurements afe to be found traces
OF an older, purer form of worship
traces which carry US back to the old
est-known Mincan civilization and
link the belief of the modern. Ekoi
with that Of the ancient Phoenician,
I the Egyptian, the Roman and the
Greek. In some ways. indeed. Ekoi
form MAJ be termed the most an
cient cf all, for whereas in the old.
est-known representations Of Minean
bird ana true worship the tree has
become almost entirely conventional
lied into pillar shape and later on
becomes mere pedestal to support
I the bird, among the Ekoi II still keeps
( It's original form--that Of the actual
living tree The smallest tcwn has
its iuiu tree"