Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1919-04-11
Snake Cults IN the Nicer
Amaury Talbot in London Times.

Inc network OF waterways forming the low
Or reaches of the Niger delta is tenanted. &C
cordng to native ideas, by system of spirits
as varied and complicated as the maze of
creeks and rivers which form their dwelling
place Such genii are known among Kalabari,
an important coastal tribe. by, the generic
chief divisions is that Of the sacred serpents,
Adumu, by whom the greater number of water
ways hereabouts are thought to, have been Gre
ated.
An hour before sunset, one Sunday afternoon,
we. reached little beach on the Adum' ANA
Bokko, below the shrine of the serpent Juju
There we were welcomed by the head priest,
an old man with gentle manners and friendly
air, who led us straight to the hut of the fetish
On the way he told us that we were the first
white people to land upon this sacred ground
Roughly translated the priests account ran
as follows:
"Adum-Ama is the home of the great Juju
Adumu. He is a very powerful Owl. Often
he shows himself in the shape of great snake
but when he goes fishing in his canoe at night
takes the form of man. At such times his
wife, Ngoji, sits at the stern steering. There is
sign by which they may be known from or
binary men, Adum always places his throwing
spear on the left hand or carries it against
his left shoulder, while human beings have theirs
on the right. Otherwise the couple look just
like simple fsher-folk and go up and down,
watching the ways OF men and their dealings
with the water-peope."
On such occasions 'Ngoii is said to carry
the catch for her husband. 1t is curious fact,
vouched for by the many fowls and ducks to
be seen on this small strip of land, that the
snakes, called by the natives Children OF
Adumu," not only do not hurt the. people
themselves, but, seemingly, never even touch
many Portuguese marines made their way, in
old days, to this part of the coast, it is not
difficult to understand why the figure of Adumu,
carved from great post, is here shown with
the pointed mustachc and beard. the ruff and
when these bold seafarers hrst penetrated to
the lower reaches of the Santa Barbara The
fish which hangs beneath the ruff and the two
snakes coiled panier-wise on either side at about
the level Of the hips are obviously symbolic of
the demi-god's attributes.
At 'Ngeri-Baw-Anla, town near Ke, to the
east OF the Sombreiro river, also unvisted
hitherto by Europeans, another temple of Adum
may be seen. 1t faces sacred water, the en-
trance arched over by creepers beneath which
a short, sandy track leads down to the shore.
Tall Mimbo palms spread protecting arms over
head, while below, in the cool shadow, sweet
scented water lilies raise white petals with
hearts of gold above carpet of level leaves,
emerald, copper tinted, or deep red in tone.
with azure. where broken reflections from the
cloudless sky have somehow forced way
through the screening palms.
The sacred spot is approached by two paths,
one broad, straight and smooth, leading to the
front of the shrine which faces the Juju water,
the other mere bush track, branching off
some hundred feet or so away and crossed
and recrossed by gnared and knotted roots.
The first is the road for male worshippers, the
second that for women. Even by this path,
but must stay. their steps at place marked
off, where three-sided bush seat" has been
set for their use. From this point they can
see the wall OF the shrine, but may not cast so
much as glance within. The spot is cele-
brated throughout the country side as place
OF pilgrimage for barren women and weak men.
Among the hos of the Owerr district we
discovered another Juju, named Ogugu, by
which serpent messengers are sent into the
houses of those who have sworn falsely upon
rest house at Omu-Akani, man gave us some
information about this cult. He said:
IF anyone promises something to the Juju
and fails to give this or swears on its name,
but does not carry out the thing, Ogugu always
sends visitors to remind that person. Big
of the house. At midnight one creeps into the
bed, or coils by the head of the sleeper. Never,
never does such messenger leave again until
the promise has been carried out"
one Of those strange, and highly. decorated
temples known as 'Mbari In this case the
building double one. raised in joint honor
of the Thunder God, Amade Onhia, and his
consort, the Earth Goddess Ale. Here, amid
a multitude of figures adjoining the two shrines,
one is to be seen depicting the unhappy fate of
woman who had broken promise pledged
upon the name of Ogugu. A python entwines
the body of the perjurer, whose arms are raised
above her head, either in horror at sight of
may perhaps hope, in pledge Of amendment.
Besides the children of Adumu" there are a
multitude of other Owl Amapu, powerful and
mostly benehcent genii. Some, however, are
malignant, resembling the Ibibio 'Mbiam in
their dealings. oyerturning canoes. especially
those Of men against whom their aid has been
invoked. The king of these water spirits is
Freya, whose capital, Frey anna, lies beneath a
creek near Bile. There he holds court and,
at times of festival, all Owl gather to do him
form, but shows himself to mortals in serpent
guise.
1t is strenuous1y denied that human victims
are ever offered up to the water sprites at the
present day, but, on one. occasion. accident
pointed to the probability of some such sacrifice
having been made. We CHANGED to pass along
the New Calabar river, near Ewafe, region
inhabitated partly by Ibo and partly Kalabari,
when one of our attendants pointed out large
crocodile lying, on the bank. A few moments
my rife and the "beef" was eagerly shared
out by our followers. Suddenly, excited shouts
arose and man ran forward to tell US that,
while. cutting up the beast two small Ibo
bracelets, anklets, of bronze, several tie tie
ropes, tightly knotted, and quantity of human
hair had been found within He, however,
hastily added that this would not spoil the
flesh because it nebber be white man hair. only
black mani
The bracelets were pitifully small, while the
tie-tie was knotted in loops which could fit but
the slenderest of wrists or ankles 1t seems
probable, therefore, that a child victim had been
bound to tree or stake amid the mangrove
swamps and there left to be devoured by croco-
nr IN, o4a 40, aes,xnr LIZ.