Introduction

§1. INTRODUCTION The Yoruba country lies to the immediate West of the River Niger (below the confluence) and South of the Quorra {i.e., the Western branch of the same River above the confluence), having Dahomey on the West, and the Bight of Benin to the South. It is roughly speaking between latitude 6° and 9° North, and longi- tude 2° 30' and 6° 30' East. The country was probably first known to Europe from the North, through the explorers of Northern and Central Africa, for in old records the Hausa and Fulani names are used for the country and its capital ; thus we see in Webster's Gazetteer " Yarriba," West Africa, East of Dahomey, area 70,000 sq. miles, population two millions, capital Katunga. These are the Hausa terms for Yoruba and for Oyo. The entire south of the country is a network of lagoons connect- ing the deltas of the great River Niger with that of the Volta, and into this lagoon which is belted with a more or less dense mangrove swamp, most of the rivers which flow through the country North to South pour their waters. It will thus be seen that the country is for the most part a table- land : it has been compared to half of a pie dish turned upside down. Rising from the coast in the South gradually to a height of some 5-600 ft. in more or less dense forest, into a plain diversified by a few mountain ranges, continuing its gentle rise in some parts to about 1,000 ft. above sea level, it then slopes down again to the banks of the Niger, which encloses it in the North and East. In a valuable letter by the Rev. S. A. Crowther (afterwards Bishop) to Thomas J. Hutchinson, Esq., Her Britannic Majesty's consul for the Bight of Biafra and the Island of Fernando Po, published as Appendix A to the book entitled " Impressions of Western Africa,"^ we find the following graphic description of the country:— . . . " This part of the country of which Lagos in the Bight of Benin is the seaport, is generally known as the Yoruba country, extending from the Bight to within two or three days' journey to the banks of the Niger.^ This country comprises many tribes governed by their own chiefs and having their own laws. At one time they were all tributaries to one Sovereign, the King of Yoruba, including Benin on the East, and Dahomey on the West, but are now independent. ' Longmans, Green & Co., 1858. "^ i.e. At the time of writing.—Ed. The principal tribes into which this kingdom is divided are as follows :— The Egbados : This division includes Otta and Lagos near the sea coast, forming a belt of country on the banks of the lagoon in the forest, to Ketu on the border of Dahomey on the West ; then the Jebu on the East on the border of Benin; then the Egbas of the forest now known as the Egbas of Abeokuta. Then comes Yoruba proper northwards in the plain ; Ife, Ijesha, Ijamo, EfoH, Ondo, Idoko, Igbomina, and Ado near the banks of the Niger, from which a creek or stream a little below Iddah is called Do or Iddo River." . . . " The chief produce of this country is the red palm oil, oil made from the kernel, shea butter from nuts of the shea trees, ground nuts, beniseed, and cotton in abundance, and ivory—all these are readily procured for European markets. . . . The present seat of the King of Yoruba is Ago other- wise called Oyo after the name of the old capital visited by Clap- perton and Lander. A King is acknowledged and his person is held sacred, his wives and children are highly respected. Any attempt of violence against a King's person or of the Royal family, or any act of wantonness with the wives of the King, is punished with death. There are no written laws, but such laws and customs that have been handed down from their ancestors, especially those respecting relative duties, have become established laws. The right to the throne is hereditary, but exclusively in the male line or the male issue of the King's daughters. The Government is absolute, but it has been much modified since the kingdom has been divided into many independent states by slave wars, into what may be called a limited monarchy ..." Physical features.—^The country presents generally two distinct features, the forest and the plain ; the former comprising the southern and eastern portions, the latter the northern, central and western. Yoruba Proper lies chiefly in the plain, and has a small portion of forest land. The country is fairly well watered, but the rivers and streams are dependent upon the annual rains ; an impassable river in the rains may become but a dry water-course in the dry season. There are a few high mountains in the north and west, but in the east the prevailing aspect is high ranges of mountains from which that part of the country derives its name, Ekiti—a mound —being covered as it were with Nature's Mound. The soil is particularly rich, and most suitable for agriculture, in which every man is more or less engaged. The plain is almost entirely pasture land. Minerals apparently do not exist to any appreciable extent, expect iron ores which the people work them- selves, and from which they formerly manufactured all their implements of husbandry and war and articles for domestic use. Flora.—The forests teem with economic and medicinal plants of tropical varieties, as well as timber, of which mahogany, cedar, brimstone, counter, and iroko are the principal. There are also to be found the Abura, useful for carving purposes, ebony, Ata 2i hard wood used for facing carpenters' tools, the Iki, a hard wood which when dry is very difficult to work, as it speedily blunts edged tools. The Ori, another hard wood useful for making piers on the coast, and the Ahayan, a very hard wood, unaffected by ordinary fires, dry rot, or termites. All these are indigenous, but recently " Indian teak " has been introduced, and it flourishes widely, as well as the beef wood tree on the coast. Although a large variety of fruits can be grown, yet the people do not take to horticulture ; what there are grow almost wild, very little attention being paid to them. Papaw, bananas of several varieties, plantcdn, oranges, pineapples, the Oro, plums (3'ellow and black), the rough skin plum, the butt lime, are to be found everywhere. Some fruit trees have been introduced, which have become indigenous, e.g., the sweet and sour sop, the avocado (or alligator) pear, guavas of two kinds, pink apples, rose apple, mangoes, the bread truit and bread nut trees, the golden plum, etc. All these are cultivated, but not widely. Vegetables, of which there are several kinds, are largely culti- vated. Yam, koko, cassada, sweet potatoes, are the principal " roots " used as diet, also beans (white and brown), small and large, and the ground nut are largely grown for food. The guinea corn grows in the north, and maize in the south. The calabash gourd and the Egusi from the seeds of which Egusi oil is pressed, grow everywhere. Fauna.—^Big game abound, especially in the north, where the lion is not far to seek, also the elephant, buffalo, leopard, wolf, foxes, jackals, monkeys of various species, deer, porcupine, etc. The hippopotamus is found in large rivers, and alligators in the swamps and lagoons in the south. The usual domestic animals and poultry are carefully reared. Of birds, we have the wild and tame parrots, green pigeons, stork, crown birds, and others of the tropical feathered tribe. The country was at one time very prosperous, and powerful, but there is probably no other country on this earth more torn and wasted by internal dissensions, tribal jealousies, and fratricidal feuds, a state of things which unhappily continues up to the present time. When the central authority which was once all-powerful and far too despotic grew weak by driving the powerful chiefs into rebellion and internecine wars, the entire kingdom became broken up into petty states and independent factions as we now know them. As far as it is possible for one race to be characteristically like another, from which it differs in every physical aspect, the Yorubas —it has been noted—are not unlike the English in many of their traits and characteristics. It would appear that what the one is among the whites the other is among the blacks. Love of inde- pendence, a feeling of superiority over all others, a keen commercial spirit, and of indefatigable enterprise, that quality of being never able to admit or consent to a defeat as finally settling a question upon which their mind is bent, are some of those qualities peculiar to them, and no matter under what circumstances they are placed, Yorubas will display them. We have even learnt that those of them who had the misfortune of being carried away to foreign climes so displayed these characteristics there, and assumed such airs of superiority and leadership over the men of their race they met there, in such a matter of fact way that the attention of their masters was perforce drawn to this type of new arrivals ! And from them they selected overseers. These traits will be clearly discerned in the narratives given in this history. But apart from the general, each of the leading tribes has special characteristics of its own ; thus dogged perseverance and determination character- ise the Ijebus, love of ease and a quickness to adapt new ideas the Egbas, the Ijesas and Ekitis are possessed of a marvellous amount of physical strength, remarkable docility and simplicity of manners, and love of home. Among the various families of Yorubas Proper, the Ibarapas are laborious farmers, the Ibolos are rather docile and weak in comparison with others, but the Epos are hardy, brave, and rather turbulent ; whilst the Oyos of the Metropolitan province are remarkably shrewd, intelligent, very diplomatic, cautious almost to timidity, provokingly conservative, and withal very masterful. The whole people are imbued with a deep religious spirit, reverential in manners, showing deference to superiors and respect to age, where they have not been corrupted by foreign intercourse ; ingrained politeness is part and parcel of their nature. The early history of the Yoruba country is almost exclusively that of the Oyo division, the others being then too small and too insignificant to be of any import ; but in later years this state of things has been somewhat reversed, the centre of interest and sphere of importance having moved southwards, especially since the arrival of Europeans on the coast. Such is the country, and such are the people whose history, religion, social polity, manners and customs, etc., are briefly given in the following pages.