Part 2 — Chapter 16

Chapter XVI A SERIES OF FRATRICIDAL WARS After the events narrated above, the history of the Yorubas centred largely at Ibadan which, down to the time of the British Protectorate continued to attract to itself ardent spirits from every tribe and family all over the country, who made it their home, so that while the rest of the country was quiet, Ibadan was making history. An Episode.—The Osu War.—After the return of the Ibadans from the Ota war, and the civil war which placed Oluyole at the head of the government, Inakoju the Seriki died and was succeeded by one Ladanu. After his promotion, Ladanu led out an expedi- tion to Osu which turned out disastrous. He was accompanied by most of Oluyole's men, e.g , Akinsowon, Abipa, Aijenku and Erinle S^nku. Osu not being far from Ile§a the capital of the Ijesa country, the Ijesas, hearing of their approach, lay in ambush, and cut the Seriki's army in pieces. The Seriki himself in an attempt to rally his discomfited army was slain. Chiefs Akinsowon and Abipa were also slain leaving Aijenku and Erinle Sanku who escaped with difficulty alone to tell the tale. The Eleduwe war which followed soon after, and the Abemo and Osogbo wars subsequently, fully engaged the attention of the Ibadans ; now they were at leisure they were resolved to avenge the loss of their late Seriki. Balogun Oderinlg led out the whole Ibadan army. Their route lay through the Ede farms and there they were encamped for many days foraging. The Ije.sas of the capital joined by the army of Osu met them at Iloba which was 4 hours to Osu eastward, and between 6 and 8 hours to Ile§a, Osu itself being about 6 hours to Ilesa. Here several battles were fought, and when the Ijesas could stand the fire of the Ibadans no longer, they evacuated the town, and the place was taken. The Ibadans followed up the victory to Osu their objective, but the town had been deserted ; they made no captives there but carried away booties, and returned home to Ibadan in triumph. After this there arose a series of neighbourly strifes all over the country. m § I. A A YE AND OtUN Whilst the revolutionary wars were raging all over the rest of the Yoruba country, the Fulanis devastating the Metropolitan province, the Oygs the Egba province, and the Ifes, Ijebus and Oygs striving for predominance in the south, the Ijesa and Ekiti provinces, save for the late Pole war, were enjoying the blessings of peace. Entrenched in their mountain fastnesses, they were safe from the Fulani horse and other foes. But it seems they were not to be exempt from the ban that hung over the rest of the Yoruba nation, and hence they commenced an internal strife among themselves, which led to their inviting outside help and resulted in their final subjugation. A^ye and Otun were two towns in the Efon and Ekiti districts contiguous to one another ; the people bear the same relationship to each other as the Egba bear towards the Oyos or Ijebus. They are all included under the term Ekiti. A feud arose between these two towns about their boundaries which culminated in a war in which Otun was worsted, but so determined on revenge was the Olotun (king of Otun) that he sought help from abroad ; he sent to Ibadan for that purpose and Balogun Oderinlo was sent out with the whole of the Ibadan army, and Akye was besieged. Finding that the Ibadans were too strong for them the Alaye (king of Aaye) sought help from Ilorin, and the Ilorin horse under their general Afunku appeared in the field in aid of Aciye. The choice fell on the Fulani Balogun as the Hausa and Yoruba Baloguns of the Ilorins had already failed at Osogbo. The Ilorins did their best to raise the siege by attacking the Ibadans in the rear, but the Ibadans rounded on them and inflicted on them a severe defeat. Their leader general Afunku fell in the conflict, about lOO Ilorins were made prisoners, and the rest escaped home, leaving Aaye to its fate. Such a turn of affairs was least expected at Aaye. The town was now closely invested, and when they were reduced to feeding on roots of trees, reptiles, and other loathsome objects they went about the streets bewailing their misfortunes and endeavour- ing to move the sympathy of their kinsmen of Otun, and sang " Olotun nje otito li o yio fi kini yi se ? " (O king of Otun, will you then make of this matter a stern reality ?) But there were some men in the town who were encouraging them to hold out a Httle longer, saying that great as their distress was in the town, greater still was it in the Ibadan camp where they were reduced to pounding hay for food ; and if their allies could not raise the siege, famine would do it for them. Thus encouraged, the men of Aaye held out heroically, they built forts upon the town walls from which sharp shooters harassed the Ibadans continually, and among those killed by that means was a notable chief Toki Onibudo^ the Seriki of Ibadan. But when they could hold out no longer, when men, women, and children were dying in the stieets from starvation, Fagbefiro the Alaye with his mother were resolved to risk going in person to the Ibadan camp to sue for peace. When they entered the camp and were being conducted to the Balogun's quarters, the Alaye was overcome with surprise on finding yam, corn, flour, and other articles of food exposed in the market for sale, " What do I see ? " exclaimed he " What about the famine we were told existed in the Ibadan camp so that men were reduced to feeding on pounded hay? " He there and then ordered some yam to be purchased for him, even before he got to the presence of the Balogun. The Balogun received the Alaye in a friendly manner, and terms of peace were agreed upon, the Alaye promising to serve the Ibadans. But he was told that as they could not return home to Ibadan empty-handed, he should give them a small force and a guide to Isan the next town of importance ; and in order to allay the Alaye's apprehensions the Balogun ordered a chief named Lajubu to return with the Alaye to the town to protect the same against the wild soldiery until the whole army had passed on to Iskn. But this seems to have been a ruse, for Lajubu and the Alaye had scarcely reached the gate of the town when the whole Ibadan army was on the move, Lajubu himself rushed forward not to protect the place, but to be amongst the first in plundering and slave-catching. Very few however were the captives taken, as famine had done its worst with them ; most of the survivors were weak and sickly, with oedematous hands and feet, and only about 100 comparatively able-bodied were found amongst them, and even these nearly all soon perished from the indiscretion of their captors, who in hopes of restoring them speedily to sound health fed them immoderately after a long spell of starvation. The Ibadan army pushed on and took Oro, Yapa, Isi and Isan. At the last mentioned place all the war-chiefs remained, but the war-boys followed up the conquest as far as to Itagi, where they suffered a disaster and were checked. The people of Itagi left their town and hid themselves in the bush hard by. The Ibadan war-boys having rushed in, dispersed 1 This chief was succeeded by his nephew, Ibikunle, who became a famous Balogun. all over the town, intent on plundering ; when the Itagi armed men came out and hunted them down everywhere butchering them to pieces. Chief Lajubu was amongst those caught in the market place and there he ended his career. This expedition opened the way for the Ibadan raids into the Ekiti country, which continued year by year until the whole of that province was brought under subjugation by them as will be seen hereafter, and they remained a subject people under the Ibadans until, united in one, they struck for freedom, which was won by the aid of the British government many years after. § 2. The Egbas and Egbados About the same time as the events recorded in the previous section, the Egbas were waging war with some of the Egbado tribes. Ado was besieged, but held out for many years. All the Baloguns of Abeokuta were there present except their chief Sodeke ; but they spent their strength and skill to no purpose. It was just about this time (A.D. 1843) that the Missionaries of the C.M.S. arrived at Abeokuta for inspection with a view to carrying on mission work in this country. The pioneer was the Rev. Henry Townsend a European missionary, with Mr. Andrew Wilhelm Desalu his interpreter, both from Sierra Leone. They met Chief Sodeke the Balogun of Itoku and leader of the Egbas to Abeokuta who received them with a cordial welcome. Mr. Townsend left Abeokuta after a short stay with a promise to return soon for a permanent stay amongst them tor missionary work. Thus light began to dawn on the Yoruba country from the south, when there was nothing but darkness, idolatry, superstition, blood shedding and slave-hunting all over the rest of the country. There was an old tradition in the country of a prophecy that as ruin and desolation spread from the interior to the coast, so light and restoration will be from the coast interior-wards. This was a tradition of ages. Is not this event the beginning of its fulfil- ment ? Whilst the Egbas were encamped before Ado, the Daho- mians led out an expedition, and were on the march for Ilaro. It was privately reported to the Egbas that the Dahomians would suddenly fall on them and raise the siege. Hearing this the Egbas first sent out spies to ascertain their situation ; they thereupon surprised the Dahomians one morning as they spread themselves about their camp airing and drying their accoutrements that had got wet from a drenching rain after a storm that took place on the previous evening. In the confusion of the flight the Egbas captured the standard of the Dahomian army, which was an umbrella made of the skins of different kinds of animals, and burnt it. It was said that the King of Dahomey negotiated for it, and would have redeemed it at any price, but as it had been destroyed, it could not be restored ; and this was the cause of the mortal enmity and s>vorn hatred that has existed between successive Kings of Dahomey and the Egbas of Abeokuta unto this day. By the intervention of the Rev. Hy. Townsend, the siege of Ado was raised after a duration of 5 or 6 years, and the Egbas returned home. § 3. Ibadan and Ijaye. The Batedo War, a.d. 1844 Inflated with the success of his intrigues at home and his arms abroad, the Basorun of Ibadan was aspiring to the throne of Oyo ! That this was so was evident from his style and manner at this time, and the insinuations his drummer was permitted to make when greeting him :— " Iba, kuku joba, (Be the King at once, my lord, Mase bi Oba mo." Cease acting like a King). He, however, had his own misgivings ; he was the King's nephew but by the female line, and no such succession is possible in the Yoruba country. He would however make a venture trying might where he had no right, and in order to effect his purpose he was seeking occasion for a rupture with the AlAfin, and at the same time, by entreaty and bribery, endeavouring to secure the connivance if not the alliance of the Are of Ijaye, the only obstacle in his way. The latter refused to listen to him, and even remon- strated with him for his presumption and disloyalty to his lawful sovereign whose first minister he was. But as he would not be dissuaded from his projects, the Are finally sent word to say no one would venture to attack Oyo unless he the Are-ona-Kakanfo be first removed out of the way. The Are kept the King well informed of all that was passing between himself and the Basorun. His Majesty also was well aware of the Basorun's intentions and of his power, hence he dealt wisely and patiently with him, never evincing any hostile spirit towards him, nor taking any notice of his insults. Thrice did Oluyole the Basorun send word to the King to say he should now fulfil the promise he made before his coronation to lead the people back home and remove the seat of government back to the ancient capital. The King knowing his intentions, thus replied to the messengers on the tliird and last time : " Tell your master that if he is ready let him come on, I am ready. As the present Oyo is on the high way to the ancient capital, he should start first and meet me here." At the same time the AlAfin was fortifjang the town against a sudden attack, and employed a fetishman one Latubosun to bury charms at all the gates leading to the city as a preventive. As he was evincing much anxiety for the safetj' of the town both this fetishman and the Ondasa (the official fetishman) assured him that not a single shot would be fired against this place. Oluyole on the other hand lost no opportunity of seeking an occasion for a rupture between himself and the King. He sent a body of troops to intercept Abudu Alelo and Kosija the Ilari whom the King sent to Porto Novo for a supply of ammunition. Abudu's teeth were shattered by the fire of one of Oluygle's men, for this the King neither remonstrated with Oluyole nor demanded a redress knowing it to be a deliberate casus belli; he treated the matter as an accident. With Kurumi the Are also Oluyole was provoking a rupture as he was the only obstacle in the way of his carrying out of his projects. He demanded that Kurumi as Kakanfo should acknow- ledge the seniority of himself as Basorun by coming in person to Ibadan to pay his respects to him, as he goes to Oyo to do homage. Kuriimi was too wide awake to venture his head into the lion's mouth, notwithstanding that Ogun-ko-roju his Balogun urged him to comply for the sake of peace. The Basorun constituted this refusal a casuf belli. A circumstance, however, occurred which accelerated the war. One Asu the Areagoro of Ladejo, an Ijaye chief, was expelled the town for treason, and he escaped to Fiditi, a town mid-way between Ijaye and Oyo; he rebuilt the ruins and had the town re-inhabited. The Kakanfo sent a company of 100 men to surprise and disperse this Httle band, but they found Asu and his men ready, and proving too strong for them, they were defeated and driven back. Fearing therefore the resentment of the Are, Asu sent to Ibadan for help. TheBasor un who had long been seeking an oppor- tunity for war against Ijaye hailed the present offer and sent out Balogun Oderinlo and Ibikunle the Seriki with instructions to confine their operations to kidnapping expeditions in Ijaye and Oyo farms, in order to harass them, and render farming both useless and unsafe so that famine might do half the work before a direct attack was made. This continued for many months and several skirmishes took place on the Aregbe hills in the Ijaye farms with varying results. At length the Ibadans suffered a great disaster at Odogido in the Ijaye farms which put an end to the Fiditi campaign. On that eventful day the Balogun arranged to lead an expedition to the Oyo farms and entrusted that to the Ijaye farms to the Seriki. At a place called Odogido the Ijayes lay in ambush and suddenly attacked the Seriki's army on all sides and routed it completely. About 140 masters of compounds " who went to war on horseback " were caught and slain exclusive of private soldiers. It was said that Ibikunle the Seriki himself only escaped by falling into some friendly hands and was quietly let off. The Ijayes pressed hard in pursuit until it was dark and the shadows of night saved the remnant ot the defeated. Hence this expedition was sometimes named " Oru gba mi 1^." (The night saved me.) One Lampejg was wounded in about 60 places all over his body,, and was left for dead, but at night he revived and found his way home. The expedition to the Oyo farms under the Balogun was also unsuccessful, though not disastrous ; not a single captive was brought back with him for they met nobody in the farms. The Are of Ijaye put to death all the captives that fell into his hands ; and made a platform on which he piled up the heads of the slain. For three months after this, the Ibadans remained inactive at Fiditi. Oluyole received the news with great indignation. He was resolved upon a siege of Ijaye ; and at once declared war and ordered his army at Fidih to meet him on the way thither ; they met him at Ojoho his first encampment about six miles from Ibadan. Thence they removed to Ika about midway between the two belligerent towns. From this place they began to clear the bush taking a north-easterly direction to the Ijaye farms which they reached on the 5th day and there encamped. Here the Ijayes met them and for two full years hard battles were fought with equal success on both sides ; but the war was very unpopular. Also an incident reported from home contributed largely to the failure of the expedition on the part of the Ibadans. The war- chiefs were told of the Basorun's boast when he heard of the disaster of Odogido that if there remained but himself alone and Oyainu (his favourite wife) he would take Ijaye. Oyainu herself, a lady of a masculine temperament and very popular was heard to swear by the Egugun gods (a thine; forbidden to women) that if the war was left to herself alone, she would take Ijaye. The war-chiefs were naturally hurt by this impHed slur cast upon them by the Basorun and his wife. This, added to the un- naturalness of the conflict, rendered them perfectly indifferent to the issue of the war, they followed their chief and his wife half- heartedly, rather as spectators to see how far they could do without them ; it was even asserted that some of the chiefs fired only blank ammunition. Whatever maybe the truth of these reports, it was qiiite certain that the war was unpopular, and that the Basgrun and his wife had to bear the brunt of the battle. The war at length became a general one. Both sides sought the alliance of the Egbas ; the Egba chiefs were divided, Sodek§ and Anoba declared for Ijaye, but Apati being Oluyole's friend and relative declared for Ibadan. Sodeke himself never went beyond Arakanga, 3 miles from home, but sent his eldest son forward to Ijaye. The alliance of Ogbomoso was also sought ; there was also a division here, the Bale declared for Ijaye but Ogurunbi a notable war-chief, for Ibadan. Oluygle further sought the alliance of the Emir of Ilorin and the aid of his powerful Balogun Ali. He also sent provisions for the Ilorin troops on account of the great scarcity of food then at Ilorin, and asked them to beseige Ogbomoso. He also sent a contingent force of infantry in aid of the Ilorins. The men of Ogbomoso defeated this army but could not pursue them far, for fear of the Ilorin horse. The Oke Ogun districts also were divided in their allegiance Iseyin declared for both Ijaye and Ibadan. [The fact is that that town was practically situated between two fires]. But He Bioku Berekodo, Igbo Ora and Pako were for Ibadan. In the Eastern districts Apomu, Ikire and Osogbo were vassals of Ibadan and had no choice, but Iwo and Ede revolted. The people of Ede were at first the allies of the Ibadans, and Folarin their prince was in the Ibadan camp from the beginning of the campaign, but when he received information that his people at home had revolted, he one day went over with all his men to Ijaye and was there received with open arms. The Are sent him home in peace under the escort of Chief Elepo late of Ibadan. Lodifi an Iwo chief also went over and was similarly sent home. But Kolokg and Adepo two Ibadan war-chiefs were stationed at Ejigbo to raid the Ede farms; when therefore Prince Folarin and Chief Elepo arrived at Ede, they went against Ejigbo to drive away these raiders. Elepo, confident in the terror his very name inspired thought they would not dare await his approach, but alas, that time for Elepo was past and gone ; Prince Folarin fell in an engagement and Elepo was seriously wounded in the arms. He was thus invalided at Ede for about a whole year before he was sufficiently recovered to return to Ijaye. Thus the war between Ibadan and Ijaye involved nearly the whole country ; it lasted for two full years and during this period, the deadly conflict was chiefly between the Basorun and the Arg, for Odgrinlo the Balogun of Ibadan and Oguoroju the Balogun of liaye had free though private communication with each other, and so all the minor chiefs and privates on both sides met each his kinsman and exchanged greetings and presents with one another. The Alafin of Oyo held himself quite neutral and rendered no aid to either party and was thus able to come forward as an arbitrator between the contending parties. He sent the emblems of the god Sango with the high priest from Oyo to Ijaye, and thence to the Ibadan camp saying, " What the king on earth may not be able to effect, surely the King from the other world can do, and this unnatural conflict must now cease." Sango's intervention was respected by both parties now tired of the war, and peace was immediately concluded. The Ibadans in the camp flocked to Ijaye and vice versa,^dich. one to see his friends and relatives and to offer congratulations. It was during this war that locusts were first seen in the Yoruba country. They swarmed through the land and devoured every blade of green grass, but there was no famine in consequence for providentially it occurred just before cereals were planted, and they did not pass over the same region again ; but there was agricultural depression in some parts of the country for the locusts did not altogether disappear from the land for about two years. § 4. Abeokut aand Abaka. The AbAka War, a.d. 1846 About a year after their return from the Ado war, and after the death of Sodeke the Egbas found a pretext for waging war against Abak^ a suburban village. It was at first considered an easy task, but the Abaka men defended theii town so vigorously that they compelled the Egbas to beat a hasty retreat. The war was, however, renewed and the small town closely invested for fully four months and was reduced by famine. The distinguished Egba war-chiefs then were ; Apati the Generalissimo, Anoba, Olufakun, Somoye, Ogunbgna of Ikija and others. On their return from this expedition about 150 captives were allotted to Anoba alone. The Egbas being now fully settled in their new home, Abeokuta, deemed it necessary to organize themselves for complete civil duties and have a king over them ; and Okukenu one of their war-chiefs who bore the Oyo title of Sagbua (one of the junior Esos of Oyo) was unanimously elected the first king of Abeokuta. § 5, The Ile Bioku Expedition and End of Chief Elepo At the same time the Abaka war was going on, Kuriimi the Are of liaye sent an expedition against Ile Bioku one of the Oke Ogun towns to punish them for having sided with the Ibadans during the late Batedo war. This expedition was entrusted to Chief Elepo late of Ibadan. This chief was for carrying the place by a coup de main, but the men of Bioku having heard before- hand of the impending danger were on the alert, and were fully prepared to offer a determined resistance. Elepo arranged for a night attack and headed his men for the assault. The men of Bioku fought desperately, but so vigorous was the assault that they were compelled to retreat into the town and some captives were made among them. But Elepo the leader of the expedition had been wounded with a poisoned arrow at the first onslaught, and as he stepped aside as was his wont, for his troops to rush forward, he expired soon after unknown to them. But the men of Bioku rallied and repulsed the attack, and when at this moment Elepo was expected to re-appear on the scene to support his men he was not to be found. The repulsed assembled at the foot of the hill on which He Bioku was built waiting for their leader ; his drum was kept up beating and calling him if per- chance he had missed his way, but alas he had fallen and they knew it not. The Bioku men had not the courage to descend from their heights and attack them, nor could the Ijaye invadeis venture on another assault without their leader. Thus both parties retired. At dawn, the men of Bioku in removing their slain observed the corpse of Chief Elepo, and they called to the Ijaye men from their heights: "Examine among j'ourselves and see who is missing ; here is the corpse of a fallen soldier with striped trousers." Then the Ijaye men knew that they had lost their leader. Thus the expedition against He Bioku failed. The Late Chief Elepo.—Chief Elepo was a native of Iwdgbk and was acknowledged to be one of the greatest generals Ibadan ever produced. In no other man was power ever seen so combined with hamiUty, loyalty, and devotion as was characteristic of Elepo. He was remarkable for simplicity of manners, and could not be distinguished among his common soldiers by dress or any futile accessories. At home or in the field he mingled freely with them all and carried a gun on his shoulders hke one of them. He was almost always victorious. Unhke the other generals of the day, he used to march at the head of his troops leading them to the fight, and when on the scene ot action he stepped aside with his attendants, for his men to rush forward, and if they were repulsed he would at once re-appear on the scene and repel the enemy. The following anecdote told of him will serve to illustrate how much was the dread which his very name inspired in people's breasts. It was once rumoured at Iwo that Elepo was coming against them at the head of his army. There was a great consternation in the town and a Babalawo (Ifa priest) in consulting his god as to his safety and that of his family was so distracted with fear that he transposed the words of divination, substituting the name of Elepo for that of the god, and vice versa; said he, " Elepo nkan kan, Orunmila li o gbe ogun de oke odo yi. Ngo ti se ku ti omo ti omg," i.e. O Elepo the ineffable, heie is Orunmila (the god Ifa) with his army at the banks of the river.^ By what means shall I perish children and all ! Upon his son calhng his attention to the mistake saying " Father, you are saying it wrong, it is just the other way," he turned round and dealt him a blow on the head saying, "Bi mo ti nfe e ki fito da iya re nu u" (i.e. that is how I used to be engaged to it, before ever I divined with your mother), intending to say that was how he used to divine with it before he was ever engaged to the lad's mother. Such was the dread Elepo's name inspired. He was generally loved and respected by his colleagues, but his oldest friend and chief to whom he was devoted proved false to him and contrived to bring about his ruin. Such is man ! When the corpse was recognised by the Bioku people his head was taken off and sent to the Basorun of Ibadan. What grim pleasure or delight that great intriguer took in it, tradition did not say, but such was the end of that great man. § 6. Sagaun and Igbo-Ora The fires of theBatedo war were still smouldering in the embers. The Basorun of Ibadan at the zenith of his glory, but unable to attain the height of his ambition became very oppressive at home. No one escaped the virulence of his tongue; he had no regard for any, least of all for the Balogun who was the next man to him in the town. A general insurrection was therefore raised against him which involved nearly the whole town. The Balogun and Otun connived at it, but professed neutrality ; the Seriki and the Asipa alone were for restoring order in the town, and through their intervention, by remonstrating with the two senior chiefs, and addressing a strong appeal to the Basorun to check the excesses of his men, the insurrection was quelled. The Ibadans however soon found a vent for their overflowing energies by events trans- piring elsewhere, as an outcome of the late Batedo war. ^ The River Obk near Iwo. We have seen above how parties were divided in their allegiance in the Oke Ogim districts during the late Batedo war, how Sagaun declared for Ijaye, andBerekodo, Igbo Ora, and Pako for Ibadan. Agidi the chief of Sagaun found a pretext for declaring war against Igbo-Ora, and besieged it, but finding the place too strong for him, he appHed to Ijaye for help, and the Are sent out theBalogun to his aid. The Igbo Ora people on the other hand sent to Ibadan for help as their misfortunes were occasioned by their loyalty to Ibadan, The Basorun at first sent to their aid a war-chief named Akawo but Akawo soon sent home for a larger force ; then Ibikunle the Seriki, Opeagbe the Osi and others were sent as re-inforcement. The principal war-chiefs remained at Berekodo, but they sent all the Badas to Igbo-Ora. But the Ijaye army was still too strong for them and when they could hold out no longer they retreated with the whole of the Igbo-Ora people to Pako. The Balogun of Ijaye besieged them here also and would have crushed them had not timely aid come from Ibadan. The Basorun hearing of the straits in which his men were, ordered the Balogun to the rescue. But Oderinlo the Balogun of Ibadan and Lasilo theBalogun of Ijaye were sworn friends, and rather than prove false to him, Oderinlo from his first rendezvous at Odo Ona sent to tell his friend that he was coming with an overwhelming force which the Ijayes could not possibly withstand, and there- fore he would advise him to retire from Sagaun as soon as possible; nothing could be gained by the enormous loss of lives that must ensue, and the pangs of broken friendship ; and Sagaun must fall. Lasilo and his men accordingly letired from Sagaun, and on that very day the Ibadan hosts entered and Sagaun was taken. Chief Agidi who originated the war fell from the heights of Oke Tapa and was killed. Within 13 days of their departure the Balogun of Ibadan with his armj' returned home but met the Basorun seriously ill. During their absence in the field the Basorun called at the houses of all the principal chiefs and respectable citizens to ask after the welfare of their households ; he was everywhere received with marks of honour. In one of these rounds he unfortunately met with an accident, by being thrown off his horse and he sustained an internal injury from which he was laid up and was unable to see or welcome home his army. Five days after their arrival, he breathed his last. What the populace could not do during his lifetime they were determined to do now, viz., to pull down and plunder his house on account of the enormities perpetrated by him. But the Balogun prevented this, he posted the Agbakin with his men at the entrance of the palace to prevent any outrage or disorder. Thus passed away one of the most distinguished figures in the Yoruba countr5\ The Late Oluyole Basorun of Ibadan.— Oluygle was the son of OlokQoye, grandson of Basorun Yamba, and Agbgnrin the daughter of King Abiodun the Alafin of Oyo. He was born during the period of the Fulani ascendancy and the ravages of the Jamas, and hence his parents were reduced to absolute poverty. As a lad, he was apprenticed to a metallurgist for whom he carried charcoal. It was during this period that he obtained the friendship of Oyainu (his favourite wife) whom he afterwards married ; but his first wife was Latofide. When he first asked for her hand she refused him on account of the idle life he was then leading as a dancer ; but his friends Lanose and others begged her to accept him, pledging their honour to see her taken care of and properly supported. When Oluyole rose to power and eminence he took revenge on her for this circumstance which he never forgot. Oyainu had no children but Latofide was the mother of his first born Akiola whom he loved very much ; so much so that when the lad was seriously ill, at the advice of an Ifa priest he offered a slave in sacrifice as a ransom for the life of his son. Akiola however died. Oluyole joined at Ipara the band of marauders which subse- quently settled at Ibadan. Fortune favoured him there and he rose to a position of some distinction in the army, first as an Areagoro, then the Osi of Ibadan, and lastly he became the Basorun of the kingdom. He was the friend of Ologun I'Eko and of Kosoko of Lagos whose ally he was during the Ota war : he survived all his colleagues and after the Eleduwe war obtained the title of Basorun from the AlAfin Atiba. As a ruler he was arbitrary and oppressive and that was the cause of several civil wars at Ibadan. As a commander he was almost always successful although he had many narrow escapes. As an excuse for him, his was an age of anarchy and lawlessness, and a ruler who showed himself weak would soon be compelled to give place to another. He could endure no rival and was exceed- ingly ambitious, hence the two inexcusable flaws in his life history, the perfidy to his faithful friend Elepo, and the disloyalty to the AlAfin his uncle and sovereign. He cannot be properly spoken of as a bloodthirsty tyrant because although sometimes inexorable, yet he was frequently merciful and forbearing. We may note for instance his treatment of those caught in the insurrection against him. In this respect he contrasted most favourably with his contemporary Kurumi of Ijaye. Ogunmgla who subsequently rose to distinction was but a private during his early administration: he had only a single drummer as his attendant whom he used to mount on a tree in front of his house and himself sitting on an empty keg of powder challenging the Basgrun to a civil war! His drummer used to beat:— " Ogunmola, ija 'gboro ni yio pa a dan, dan, dan ! O nyi agba gbiri, gbiri, gbiri ! O mu agbori Igwg, o nwo ona Orun yan, yan, yan ! " (Ogunmola, of a civil fight he shall die for sure, sure, sure ! He keeps kegs of powder a rolling, rolling, rolling ! With a jack knife in hand he is looking heavenwards steadily, steadily, steadily !) His Highness, amused at this imp, used to send him some presents, sa5ang " He is hungry hence he is challenging me to a fight." His contemporary of Ijaye would have made short work of him for this. Oluygle was fond of husbandry ; he had extensive plantations of okra, beans, vegetables, corn and yams, a separate farm for each, and whenever he had to take any to the market, no farmer was allowed to sell that particular article that day as he had sufii- cient to supply all the traders in the town, and could undersell any farmer. He made an experiment in yam planting so that a single root should be large enough for a load. The soil was first prepared, and a hole dug about 3 or 4ft. deep, and as many in diameter ; this was filled with weeds and pieces of banana stalks, earth was raised upon it, and the yam planted therein ; as the underlying rubbish decayed room was made for the yam to extend in all directions until the hole was filled and the size of the yam large enough for a load. The Basorun owned nearly all the kola trees in the town as well as the kola groves, and often offered human sacrifices in them in order to make the trees fruitful One of his wives, the mother of his son Owolabi, was for a trifling offence punished by being sacrificed in one of these groves. Silk velvet was then very rare and of a high value ; he allowed no one but himself alone to use a velvet robe ; the chiefs might use velvet caps only, but this no common man dared to do. The argu- ment for this was that when poor people begin to aspire to what they could not easily obtain, they neglect the more necessary things of every day life and thereby impoverish those dependent upon them. Moreover, it fosters the spirit of ambition and covetousness which may lead to robbery and other evils. It is better, therefore not to encourage such, and thus they were for- bidden altogether. Oluyole kept a large harem, for when he had become great his wives used to seize any good-looking maiden found in the street or market place, and bring her to him to become his wife. Hundreds of these he did not even know by sight, his palace being an enormous compound. On his death, the relatives and betrothed husbands of these maidens boldly entered his palace and took them away. He had many children, the most distinguished among them were: Owolabi who perished in the Ara expedition (to be noticed hereafter), after him Alade who became the head of the house, but he also died not long after, and Aborisade the next eldest who stood for many years the head of the house. The central market at Ibadan known as " Oja Iba " was so named after him when he became Ibasorun ; fo merly it was Oja Labosinde after theBaba Isale of the early settlers. By the death of the Basorun the government of the town devolved upon Oderinlg theBalogun, but as some of the important chiefs were then absent from home, he was not disposed to assume a higher title till their return, and a general re-arrangement of titles take place. But he survived his chief only a year, and Laju- mgke the Otun and next in rank to him having died, the headship devolved upon Opeagbe the Osi, but he survived them only 11 months, and after his death, by a unanimous vote Olugbode an Owu man was elected Bale, but he was not properly installed into office until the war-chiefs returned from an expedition now to be noticed.