Chapter 21

CHAPTER XXI EKET TO IBENO Eket Station, the headquarters of the District of the same name, stands on a gentle slope above the Kwa Ibo River, here nearly a quarter of a mile wide, filled to the brim at high tide, but edged with sandy beaches below. On one of these, in olden days, a stake was always to be seen, chosen for strength and deep-driven. Thither each year, at the time of yam-planting, people flocked from all the neighbouring hamlets. In their midst, carefully guarded, walked a woman with terror-stricken eyes and head bowed in despair. Just before the turn of the tide she was led down to the stake and firmly bound, to be drowned by the rising water, that her tears and sighs might purchase fertility for the new crops. Though some excellent route sketches existed, the District had never been surveyed, and many parts even were as yet unvisited by Europeans. Rumour had been rife for years of mysterious water-ways, known to some few natives, but kept a carefully guarded secret from white men, by which it was said to be possible at all times of the year to pass from one side to the other. There is a charm in the study of regions as yet unmapped and the discovery of secrets hitherto hidden ; so it was with a feeling of happy adventure that we set out one afternoon to start the survey, though the first part of our journey was too well known to offer the chance of exciting discovery. The little motor launch slipped along between banks of mangrove, with its insignificant flowers and queer roots hanging from branches high overhead, to divide, just above the water, into three or four strands, each of 279 which pushes down into the soft mud and firmly anchors itself—another little outpost flung forth by the oncoming land. Sometimes at low tide, bending so as to glance beneath the leafy screen, nothing was visible but arched roots of wannish white, interlacing far as the eye could see. More often, however, mud had formed up to the very edge of the barrier, solid enough to bear other growths, such as a wild date-palm, the lighter foliage of which made graceful tracery against the sombre mangrove ; while innumerable flowering trees and lianes, stirred by wandering winds, gave forth breaths of fragrance. Busy canoes passed up and down, laden with puncheons of palm-oil or other native produce ; bringing to mind a quaint mistake made by two former visitors to this river on seeing such craft for the first time. According to the story, one of the early District Commissioners stationed at Eket was aroused one afternoon from the sleep of the just by the sound of pistol-shots from the river. He seized his helmet and ran down to the landing- place in ordei to find out the cause of the firing. To his astonishment, he saw a canoe approaching in which were two white men, each of whom was ceaselessly loading and discharging a revolver from his side of the boat. When asked the meaning of such behaviour by the mystified Commissioner, the visitors explained that they were keeping at bay the “ war canoes ” of the natives, who, they feared, might otherwise have attacked them ! The official considered this story too amusing to keep to himself, and lost no time in sharing it with the Agent of the African Association, whose grounds touch those of the Station. That night both Commissioner and new-comers were invited to dine at the “ factory.” In the midst of dinner, a gun was heard to go off in the darkness outside—then another and another. All present sprang to their feet with cries of “ The place is attacked ! ” Guns and ammunition were thrust into the hands of the agitated visitors ; but, by a singular chance, the cartridges were all too large for the barrels ! After half an hour of excitement for the strangers and of unholy glee for the Kru boys—stationed round the house with orders to fire in the air—the attack was declared to be driven off. Next day the new-comers went on to Calabar, where they gave a thrilling account of the dangers through which they had passed. For quite a time the story added much to the joy of that sociable little town. As, for the first time, we floated down the river, the red sun sank, twilight fell, and the fishing canoes showed twinkling points of light as they glided along by the banks. Many superstitions obtain among these fisher-folk. In olden days, a human sacrifice was offered at the beginning of each season to ensure good fortune for the nets. One year, the man chosen chanced to be of unusual strength. By straining every nerve he burst the bonds which held his huge limbs and found himself free once more, but with no place of refuge, since every town was closed to him, and to take to the mangrove swamps meant not life but a lingering death. In this desperate strait he decided on a daring stroke. Back to the beach he swam, where the townsfolk were merrily holding his death-feast. It chanced that he was blind of an eye, so no sooner did he near the shore than he began to call out loudly, upbraiding them in the Juju’s name for daring to offer a blemished victim, and stating that the spirit had sent him back as unworthy, with the command that a better offering should be substituted. Unquestioningly the people obeyed. A perfect victim was chosen and sacrificed, while the resourceful one-eyed deceiver lived out his life to a peaceful close. A touch of unconscious poetry is shown in many Ibibio beliefs. They say, for instance, that sometimes, when fishing in their canoes at night, a stranger suddenly appears from out the darkness and is found sitting quietly among them. At such times they catch more fish than during any other in the year. The unknown presence is thought to be the ghost of some powerful and beneficent ancestor, who revisits thus “ the glimpses of the moon ” in order to bring good-fortune to his descendants. So still was the surface, as our little motor launch slipped down the river, that, when the full moon rose above the tree-tops, the ripple was only just enough to form a stairway for her beams. Along the lower reaches live the Ibeno, who, according to tradition, came to this part of the world from the Andoni Flats. Near their principal town, Uben Ekang, the river broadens, and just beyond lies the mouth of Stubbs Creek, on which many thousands of pounds have been spent in an attempt to provide a water-way, navigable at all seasons, from the Kwa Ibo to the Cross River, and so to Calabar. This, with Widenham Creek, separates the uninhabited southern part of the district from the thickly-peopled and fertile main portion. Eket people say that the country round this creek is very sacred, and that often in the night time the cries of sacrificed cows, goats, and sheep may be heard, as they pass by on their way to the spirit world ; for, as with Thomas the Rhymer in the land of faery, A’ the blude that’s shed on (Eket) earth Rins thro’ the springs o’ that countrie till it mingles with the waves of the Gulf of Guinea, and, further out, with those of the South Atlantic. As is to be expected amid a people who deify all great Nature forces, the sea itself is a strong Juju. Its water is mixed with most powerful “ medicines,” and rites and legends alike bear witness to its might. Far up the estuary sounds the muffled thunder of the waves. Imperceptibly the river banks merge into stretches of perfect sand, so firm below the tide line as to show no footmarks, and strewn above with gleaming shells, fragments of white coral, and strange barnacles, shaped like fossil flowers. Amid these sea-treasures meander great trails of convolvulus, purple or white, and long strands of leguminosae, some of which bear flowers of vivid mauve, and others of clear, buttercup yellow. Hither, at low tide, come Eket and Ibeno maids. Over the long firm stretches of sand they slip ; then, casting off their robes, kneel at the edge of the waves to pray to the sea-goddess Uman Ibeno, to send them virile husbands. Hither also come young brides to beg for fruitfulness, while sterile wives roll themselves in the foam, praying that their curse may be taken away. Men, too, do not despise the aid of this West African Aphrodite, but come to plead for increased virility, or stand, with arms outstretched, begging her help in unexpected difficulty or danger. To all those who seek her aid the goddess ordains a sacrifice of white cocks and hens, varying in number according to the riches of the petitioner ; for white are the chicks of Uman Ibeno, and the foam, which fringes her malachite waves, is as a flight of snowy birds over green bush. Similar offerings were made at the estuaries of all large rivers in I jaw land, to appease the Spirit of the Bar, especially when this showed signs of silting up and thus preventing the ingress of European merchant ships. On such occasions the sacrifice usually consisted of a young female slave of the lightest complexion procurable. Practically the whole Ibeno tribe has now been converted to Christianity through the efforts of the Kwa Ibo Undenominational Mission under the leadership of Mr. Bill, who has already devoted twenty-five years of his life to the work. Since their conversion the Ibeno show some reluctance in owning to a knowledge of heathen rites and customs. Mr. David Ekong, however,—the native minister, eldest son of the head of the ruling family, who was also chief priest of several of the principal Jujus, to which positions he would himself have succeeded in the ordinary course of events— is a man of considerable intelligence. The Mission authorities have taken unusual pains with his education, and even twice sent him to England. His superior learning, combined with the prestige of his birth, has secured for him great influence among the tribe. When therefore it was pointed out how rapidly memories of ancient rites and customs were fading, and that even the bulk of the old folklore was in danger of being forgotten, he grasped the importance of placing on record all that still remained, and offered to use his influence to induce aged members of his people to tell what they knew. It is no lessening of the thanks due to him to say that a natural reluctance to speak of what is now despised as idolatry raised an added difficulty in finding out the true meaning of ceremonies, especially when such were connected with rites repugnant to Mission teaching. It was often, therefore, only by piecing together occasional chance admissions, scraps of folklore, and snatches of songs proper to the different cults, that the inner meaning of such could be obtained. This was the case with the woman’s Juju Okut Ibeno, whose rites are celebrated every year at the new yam harvest. Either the priest of the cult, or some man specially chosen by him, goes out into the bush before sunset on the appointed day, and weaves himself a robe of leaves and twigs which covers him from head to foot, so that no portion of his body may be seen, though he himself can watch all that passes through two small eye-holes. He spends the night in the bush, and at dawn a band of women sets forth to draw water. At the spring stands the leaf- clad figure, which bids them leave their jars and run back, as swiftly as may be, to summon the townsfolk. No sooner do the inhabitants learn that the “ leaf man ” is calling, than with dancing and singing all set out for the bush. Arrived before him, in a space prepared for the purpose, they separate into two companies. The men form a circle which surrounds the image, while maids and matrons dance in an outer ring. For three days the play lasts, during which time the whole people give themselves up to dancing, singing, feasting, and rejoicing. From some admissions, the rite seems to have been intended to increase fruitfulness, and a considerable amount of license appears to have been permitted, though of this the people are reluctant to speak. The worship of Nature forces played a prominent part in Ibeno religion, and, among these, the spirits of vegetation were held in special reverence. The Mission Church now stands on the site of the Sacred Grove of Ainyena, in clearing which bones and skulls are said to have been discovered of many victims who had been bound to tree- trunks and left to be devoured alive by leopards and other fierce jungle folk. This grove was formerly thought so sacred that a cruel death was the doom of any woman who dared set foot within its ill-omened shades. Chief Cookery Gam of Opolio and his Wives. (Photo by A. C. Douglas.) The Tree Ainyena. Though the lesser growths have fallen before the axes of converts, the presiding genius still remains. This is the great tree Efa Ekkpo (the Ghosts’ dwelling-place), so called because it was thought that the spirits of all victims offered in sacrifice were drawn within, to dwell, without hope of freedom, so long as a single branch endured. The lesser trees and bushes of the sacred grove were bound with rags and pieces of cloth ; for so the Juju ordered. Beneath the great tree, special fetish emblems were set up, and a death penalty was inflicted upon any member of the cult who should dare to reveal the least of its secrets. A man suspected of such a thing was not brought to trial, lest his fears should be aroused. Secret inquiries were set on foot by the head priest, who, when satisfied as to the culprit’s guilt, merely announced, “ Efa Ekkpo calls for offerings ! Let us go and make sacrifice.” Arrived before the tree the usual rites were begun ; but no sooner was the victim’s attention engaged by some task allotted to him than a member, chosen for the purpose, crept up from behind and, without a word of warning, felled him to the earth with a wooden club. The body was buried at once, as near as possible to the roots of the tree, and none of the relatives ever learned of his fate. To all inquiries, the only answer given was, “ He went into the bush and is lost. Maybe the trees have blocked his road so that he cannot find the way home again.” The spirit Ainyena conferred the privilege of sanctuary on the house of its head priest, and should any one accused of witchcraft or manslaughter cross this threshold he was safe from pursuit, for the whole family would rally to his defence. A like privilege was shared by the Priest of Obrowum (Lightning), the dual part of Obumo, the Thunder God, the worship of whom was also connected with that of the Sky God, Onyong. Once a year a great festival called Obreawong was celebrated in honour of the combined deities. On this occasion the priest wore a white garment with a string of bells hung round his shoulders. Only eldest sons of the Ekong family could succeed to the priesthood of the sacred tree, the genius of which was supposed to be mysteriously linked with that of the river and of mud. Of this trilogy, to which the collective name Ainyena was given, the tree represented the male element and the water spirit the female, while the mud was looked upon as their common offspring. Such a belief is natural enough in a people cradled amid swamp-lands, where the fringing mangrove may be seen almost on every hand pushing long roots into the water. On the further side of the river, opposite the sacred tree, a stake cut from Ukon wood may still be seen fixed in the mud. This was set as a sign that the power of the Juju extended across the water. Here, too, the bush was sacred; for within it lay the Holy Stone, to which all who suffered from dropsy went to pray for a cure. About a quarter of a mile to right and left of this, and for a still longer distance in front and to the rear, no tree might be cut or least twig broken, save at the command of the Spirit of the Stone. When such an order came, the votaries broke, each for himself, a branch, which was then carried in procession to the Sacred Stone, waving in time to the chant ordained for the occasion. The stone itself is of no great size, but rounded like those which the Ekoi regard as emblems of the Nature- goddess Nimm. On either side a tree may be seen, and between these, in olden days, was hung a deep fringe of plaited grass or palm-leaf. The head of the house of Ekong was priest of this Juju also, but in his old age often sent his son David to carry out the rites in his stead. The usual sacrifice was a cock, which had to be killed in such a way that the headless corpse would still flap its wings and run round ; otherwise it was taken as a sign that the offering was rejected. Mr. Ekong naively owned that this was usually brought about by a trick, the secret of which had been handed down in his family. Should it miscarry by any chance, the Priest of Idiong had to be consulted and further sacrifices brought until the sign of acceptance was vouchsafed. The blood of the offering was poured over the stone, a few feathers strewn upon it, and the head laid above all. Should a man be proved guilty of cutting down the trees in this or any other sacred grove, he was put to death, unless his family were rich enough to ransom him by payment of a very heavy fine. The land of the Ibeno is low-lying, and their great complaint is that they have no dry place in which to bury their dead. Should they dig even a shallow grave, not more than two and a half, to three feet deep, the water still soaks through, and they are obliged to push down, and weight, the frail coffins, before the earth is piled above in sufficient quantities to keep them under. It is indicative of their feelings that the fact of being forced to lay their dead in such damp resting-places touches the people more deeply than the inconvenience to themselves of being flooded out during the wet season. Ibeno are, as previously mentioned, recent settlers in this part of the world, whither they are said to have fled from the persecution of the Bonny kings, about two hundred years ago. On first taking up their abode amid the low- lying lands by the mouth of the Kwa Ibo River, they seemed timid and gentle, and of this attitude their neighbours were not slow to take advantage. Whenever, for instance, an Ibeno hunter killed an elephant—herds of which were, and still are, fairly plentiful amid the marshlands near Stubbs Creek—the head chief of Afa Eket, Edogho by name, used to send and demand the tusks. At first the Ibeno submitted, but at length there came a day when they refused to give them up. Now the newcomers had neither the land, nor knowledge, necessary for the planting of farms. So they used to bring their smoked fish to exchange for yams, plantains, and other produce in a bush market at the neighbouring village of Urua Ita. Thither therefore went Edogho Afa with a strong, well-armed following, and, when the Ibeno came to trade as usual, he fell upon them, bound them, and carried them captive to his town. After this he sent a messenger to the head chief of Ibeno, saying, “ If you do not bring me the tusks you have collected, I will kill the people whom I have taken, or sell them as slaves to a far-off tribe.” When they heard this, the new-comers were very sad, and said : “ It is better to do as they demand than lose so many of our kin.” So they brought the tusks and asked for their friends in return, but Edogho answered, “ First, I told you to bring the tusks only. Now that you have given me all this trouble, you must pay a fine as well.” Therefore they paid that also and went back sadly to their town. After this, the young men wanted to go out and fight the people of Afa Eket, but the old men said, “ No. We cannot do so ; for, if we fight them, where shall we get fresh chop ? We have no farms and are only fisher folk, without so much as a single mimbo grove.” So they paid tribute to the Eket people up to the time when Government came. A trick played upon them by another Ibibio town was thus told by Udaw Owudumo of Ikot Atako : “ The people of Afa Atai had a play, for which the members used to dress like ghosts. Their bodies were covered with strips of palm and other leaves, and over their heads they put native pots, through which they had broken small apertures for eye-holes. So large were these pots that the necks of them rested on the men’s shoulders, and gave them a very uncanny appearance. “ Now, soon after the Ibeno came to settle in this part, the people of Afa Atai thought that it would be worth while to play a trick on their new neighbours ; so they assumed the dress described above and set out for Ibeno. Arrived near the town they crept softly forward, keeping well in the shelter of the bush ; then, at a given signal, burst through and rushed out upon the astonished inhabitants. The latter mistook the intruders for ghosts or devils. Terror seized them at the strange sight, and, catching up their piccans, they fled to bush ; while the invaders ransacked the deserted houses and stole whatever pleased them, at least as much as they could carry home. Only after dusk had fallen did the poor Ibeno creep back, to find their provisions of dried fish devoured and many of their most treasured possessions vanished. “ So successful was the raid that the thieves thought it would be a good plan to play the same trick again on the morrow. Once more they went back laden with plunder. The third day they came again, but meantime the Ibeno people had taken counsel together and said : ‘ We are tired of these ghosts ! To-day, therefore, let us make proof what sort of spirits they may be ! ’ So, instead of running away, all hid in their dwellings. When the thieves came and found the town seemingly deserted, they thought that maybe the people had not dared come back since the day before ; so they went into the houses to steal once more. Then the Ibeno rushed forth from their hiding- places and fell upon the invaders ; broke the pots from off their heads, tore off the disguising dresses, and flogged them heartily. “ When thus uncovered, the Ibeno recognised some among them for men of Afa Atai and said : ‘ What ! You people have done such a thing as this ! ’ To this the crestfallen wrongdoers could only answer : ‘Yes.’ “ Then the Ibeno said : ‘You must pay for all you have taken.’ On which they proceeded to bind their captives, save two, whom they sent to Afa Atai to tell the townsfolk to come and ransom their kin. “ So the stolen things were brought back and a heavy fine paid. Since that time no one has dared to play such a trick again.” It is at Afa Atai, by the way, that the sacred climbing palm is to be found, in which dwells the soul of the mother of Enwang of Idua Eket, the chief whose brows are bound by the sacred white fillet and who comes to consult the oracle of the climbing palm at certain seasons of the year. A great deal of information concerning the state of affairs on the lower stretches of the Kwa Ibo before the coming of “ white men ” in 1871 was kindly confided to us by Mr. Williams, a Sierra Leonian who had settled and built a trading station just one year before. The following is his account : “ According to the best of my belief it was in 1871 that the first white men came into contact with the natives at the mouth of the river. Captain Mackintosh and I u made inquiries about this time as to whether any European had entered the Kwa Ibo, and every one told us : ‘ No. None has ever come.' Mr. A. A. Robertson of Glasgow, agent for Miller Brothers, was the first white man to cross the bar and penetrate up the river. “ On his arrival, the Ibeno of 'Mkpanek took him to their palaver-house and asked him to swear Juju that he did not come for harm. He stood before the fetish and said : ‘ Well, Juju ! I do not know you ! I only know my God ; but, as they ask me to swear in your name, I will do so. I have not come to do any harm, only for trade ’—and so on. “ Some years before a Bonny man had come during the Harmattan when the sea was quiet. He sat alone in his canoe, steering and paddling ; but, to deceive the people, he cut branches of trees and stuck them all round the edge of the boat. From the banks these were seen, bowing in the breeze, as paddlers bend to the stroke. So the people thought that the canoe was full of men. “ When the stranger reached Ibeno he caught up his gun and fired, killing some of the inhabitants who had crowded down to the beach and scattering the others into the bush. At the next town up the river he did the same ; at Eket, the same, and so on, right up to Okatt. His was the first Dane gun ever brought to this part of the world ; so the people, ignorant of such things, feared greatly and ran away, leaving their goods at the mercy of the newcomer. “ Before Ikarosong was reached, however, news of the strange thing that was coming had been brought to the inhabitants, who gathered together and prepared for war. So soon as the strange canoe with its waving branches came into sight, they took to their boats and surrounded it. Then they learnt the secret—only one man and the first Dane gun ! The rash intruder was killed and the incident was called ‘ the Battle of Awat Ikpon,’ i.e. of the man who paddles alone. “ In April 1881 King Ja-Ja came from Opobo and raided all the town. With him came many canoes, till the river was full of them. These were very big dug-outs, bigger than the biggest at James Town to-day ; so big that they could hold small cannon quite easily. The true reason of his coming was trade jealousy because Mr. George Watts and I had come here ; but, as a pretence, he raked up an old quarrel. Years before, one of Ja-Ja’s men had killed an Ibeno man, whereon the dead man’s brother smote the assailant so that he died. Some of the trading boys ran and told Ja-Ja of this, and later, when he grew angry thinking that we should spoil his market, he dug up this old palaver and said that he came to avenge the death of his ‘ member ’ ! “ At the time both Mr. Watts and his representative, Mr. Harford, were away, and I was alone at my place, close to theirs, at Uben Akang. I told the Kru boys to keep quiet and not run to bush. Ja-Ja had been warned by the Opobo people not to touch Krus or Sierra Leonians, lest Government should make palaver. Old King Ja-Ja did not come ashore himself, but Chief Cookey Gam came and said : ‘You are wise to have acted as you did. Had you run to bush, we should have pretended not to know who you were and so have killed you all.’ “ On hearing what had happened, Consul Hewitt took a gun-boat and went round to ask Ja-Ja for an explanation of his action in having killed so many people, especially at Obodu and Ikot Utip, and having carried off at least a hundred as slaves.” According to Mr. John Harford, the whole of these unfortunates were afterwards massacred in cold blood, and exhibited to the townspeople. The account given by Chief Daniel Henshaw as to the opening up of the river runs as follows : “ It was my father, Chief Effanga Ekang Ansa, known to white men as Joseph Henshaw, who first opened up Ibeno and Eket to trade. After founding the port of Idua Oronn in 1879, Chief Henshaw talked to Mr. George Watt about the Kwa Ibo River, and together they sent Mr. Williams to Ibeno, to visit the land and report on trade prospects. An arrangement was drawn up between the two principals, that, should new firms wish to come in for trading purposes, of each sum paid for the privilege, Chief Henshaw should have two-thirds, as discoverer of the place, and Mr. Watts one-third. They arranged for the purchase of a cutter which could cross the bar at times. First they started at Ibeno, then went up to Eket, where a factory was opened, as later at Okatt. “ When the Opobo people got to know of this enterprise, Ja-Ja came. For many years there had been jealousy between Opobo and Calabar, so Ja-Ja watched for Chief Henshaw’s departure to Ibeno, then came and plundered everything in the house. All the people fled to bush, and the whole of Calabar shook with fear. My father went by land along the shore to Effiatt, where canoes from Calabar met him at the exact spot where our present District Commissioner shot the crocodile.1 They brought him home in triumph, and a great play was given to celebrate his safe return. All the chiefs of Calabar took part in this, and the feast lasted for sixteen days. “ Not long afterwards Sir Harry Johnston came. He was a strong man, who ruled justly, and put down Ja-Ja and all who would not obey the law. So, under him, trade grew and the country prospered greatly.” The above accounts are confirmed by the following information derived from published sources. Messrs. Miller Brothers withdrew their agency on the Kwa Ibo River in 1873, owing to threats from King Ja-Ja of Opobo, who claimed a monopoly of all trade in this region. A Mr. M'Eachan, who also traded in the river “ some years before 1881,” retired for a similar reason. Mr. George Watts made an agreement with the Kwa Ibo chiefs on February 7, 1881, and obtained a site for a “ factory.” King Ja-Ja at once prepared to drive away the intruders and also punish the local people for their willingness to deal with his rivals. According to the official account, at daylight on April 11, 1881, some fifty of Ja-Ja’s canoes, flying the British flag and armed with breech-loading cannon and rifles, entered the Kwa Ibo River, bombarded seven villages, five of which —Ikot Etu, Ikot Itak, Ebotiyan, Obarekan, and Mkpanek— they burnt, broke into Mr. Watt’s factory and destroyed or carried off a great part of his goods. Over a hundred prisoners, chiefly women and children, were seized and 1 See p. 96. taken to Opobo, where they were slain. Some of Ja-Ja’s young sons, mere boys, cut off the heads of the Kwa Ibo children in order to earn the right of wearing the eagle plume. Consul Hewitt at once went round to Opobo and warned the king that his country did not reach to the Kwa Ibo, which was placed under British protection. This warning, however, did not prevent him from sending a second plundering expedition on May 16, while two trading canoes were also seized by his men on August 18. In 1884 a treaty was made with Ja-Ja by which under certain conditions his kingdom was placed under British protection. In the same year similar agreements were made with the chiefs of Calabar and Tom Shott (Effiatt), by which all the region of the Cross River estuary came under the jurisdiction of the British Consul. In 1894 Roger Casement and Bourchier marched from Essene, near Opobo, to Ikot Asan, the highest trading point of the African Association, some miles north of Eket Station. They were unable to reach Awa, as they had planned, owing to the hostility shown by the natives, and only got through without mishap owing to the rapidity of their march. To complete the story, a letter is appended from Mr. A. C. Douglas, to whom, together with Mr. Whitehouse, the opening up of Eket as a Government station is due : Lincoln’s Inn, W.C., Feb. 9th, 1914. Dear Talbot,—I suppose you know the history of the factory. It was once the old British Consulate at Fernando Po, and is an iron bullet-proof house ; it was bought, I think, by the Association, and erected by old John Harford of Bristol, who is really the pioneer of the river. This was about 1888. He was a ship’s carpenter in a small sailing barque which was wrecked in the bar, and I believe was the sole survivor ; he washed up somewhere at Ibeno, and eventually got up river as far as Eket, where he built, and traded most successfully for some years with these then very wild Ibibios. The factory was armed in those days with cannons, and once a week it is reported old Johnny Harford fired off his guns to clear the political atmosphere ! When I was D.C. there we had an old Gattling gun which Twist, the agent (in defiance of the Brussels Act) refused to hand up to us for a long time, saying it was for the safety of the factory. A story is told that when Sir Claude MacDonald about 1892 wanted to visit the Kwa Ibo River, from Opobo, Harford remarked he didn’t want the protection of any - Consul! it was his river, and if Major MacDonald wanted to come in he would have to fight for his right to do so. I believe that astute diplomatist sent his brother-in-law Armstrong, then Vice-Consul at Opobo, and who met with a somewhat cold reception from Harford and had to sleep in his canoe. King Ja-Ja, as you have probably heard, played a large part in the opening of the river, and cut the Ja-Ja creek, now known as the Opobo creek, which you probably know. Chief Cookey Gam (his photo is here) was his head boy, and told me he was “ Captain for ten thousand niggers,” and superintended the cutting of the creek. A great slaughter of the Ibenos followed the Bonny men’s arrival in the river, and many were taken as slaves to Opobo. I found the name of Bonny man or Ibanni, as they were called, was enough even in my time to strike terror into the Ibibios when I first became political officer there and opened negotiations with them in 1898. The firm African Association, as I told you, had kept the secrets of the river and the bar to themselves, and rather resented the advent of a Government representative ; they had of course the monopoly of all the trade for some years. Thompson, their auditor, told me it was by far their most paying factory, and he hoped no opposition would ever come in. Maclver’s agent in Opobo was the intruder, and it happened in this way. We were laying the Eket and Oron telegraph line in 1903-4 and . . . the Calabar Secretariat started bombarding me with . . . missives re getting telegraph material round. I wrote to the agent Twist to charter the steamer ; he had a little liver that day, and replied, “ the- Government could wait; he wanted a load of gin from Calabar first.” I was annoyed at this, so went to Opobo that day overland, and just caught the yacht with Mr. Widenham Fosbery, Acting High Commissioner, on board, and got him to sign a contract with Maclver to bring our stuff round, I personally guaranteeing to pilot the vessel in ; I also gave him a chart we had in our office, and he reached Eket safely, much to the annoyance and disgust of the agent, who had so long held the key of the situation. My acquaintance with the Ibibios commenced in October 1898, when I was sent from Opobo to start the District. No staff was allowed me (estimates not permitting), but I succeeded in drawing on the Opobo staff for four Court messengers, one marine boy, and an interpreter ; the latter distinguished himself by bolting at the first “ palaver.” Mr. Bedwell had previously (from Calabar) been “ held up ” there, and had his knee smashed. I was the next Consul they saw. The night I arrived the wily Ekets celebrated the occasion by breaking into the factory, taking, stealing, and carrying away most of Twist’s crockery and other household utensils. I was awakened by him bursting into my room, saying, “ This is the result of the Government being here.” Shortly after daylight, Twist, Chiefs Oko and Udo Eket and myself, together with the interpreter and four police, started off to visit this refractory village in a vain endeavour to recover our lost goods. Several bush guns went off all round us, and at this the interpreter bolted. Twist then beat a hasty retreat, leaving me with the two chiefs and two police, the other two bobbies having bolted with the interpreter. Later on in the scrimmage Oko lost his Idiong (ring) crown. I therefore had to retire as gracefully as I could ; he regained us shortly after, coming out of the bush like a bolting rabbit. I gathered he had suffered a great indignity to his position, and was exceedingly angry with his countrymen and the situation generally. Later on we all joined up the rest of the party and reached the factory safely. After a vigorous report from me, a column arrived, and afterwards dealt with these refractory savages and reduced them to order. I believe that some months after Twist recovered all his crockery ware and household effects. But it took seven separate expeditions to reduce these truculent savages to order; that is, order such as you, a D.C., in 1913, find them in ; for they had a wonderful knack of bobbing up again and giving trouble after being beaten, and from a military point of view are the most “ sporting tribe ” imaginable. The various doings of the several political officers and their “ holdings up,” are they not written in the Official Intelligence book ? They include Crewe Read (who was nearly murdered), James Watt, who admitted to me once he thought his last hour had come; and amongst this sporting tribe (who were no respecter of persons) sundry “ Brass-hats ” suffered a similar fate. The telegraph party which I have mentioned before got safe through to Oron under Woodroffe, but this was owing to their safety in numbers; but some months later, when I was on leave, Beverley, who was acting for me, sent James through with fifteen men only, and then our friends got their own back. At some village half-way across at night-fall, while James was performing his ablutions, and Beverley probably counting his men or mounting guard, the wily Ibibios made an attack on the party. Soldiers and carriers, etc., scattered, and Beverley solemnly reported a serious reverse ! One soldier was said to have been killed, but I found him afterwards in a village near where Crewe Read was nearly killed under very humorous circumstances. I had gone down with an escort of twenty-eight men to arrest a murderer (twenty-five men the military thought quite ample, but of course it is not, i.e. if the town is hostile and, as was the case, didn’t want to give their man up). After a long palaver and talking much hot air, I, however, secured the prisoner, and it being too dark to leave with him, had to camp in the town that night ; after the uproar that had ensued all the afternoon in the palaver square, the silence was disconcerting and ominous. My interpreter and the sergeant both woke me up by coming into my tent, the former to tell me, “ Some bad thing go meet us to-morrow,” and the sergeant to report he had twenty-six men now, not twenty-five ! It appears Beverley’s lost soldier of a year ago, finding himself in good company again, joined us in the night. He had been a prisoner with them for a year. He was a Yoruba, and the men, I heard, were chaffing him a good deal and called him the Ibibio soldier. I saw them shaving his head in the night, a native custom to celebrate the return of a captive. On attempting to leave the town next day with my murderer, at a given signal the whole village, with several others, rushed us from behind, knocking the whole of the carriers over as well as half of the escort. The sergeant bravely held on to the prisoner, and begged my permission to fire, but as the whole town had guns, and we had only ten rounds a man, I saw it would be fatal to provoke hostilities ; and while I was trying to collect the terrified carriers and prevent the men firing, some one put a long arm and a matchet out of the bush, cut the tie-tie rope, and our prisoner was gone ! The Ibibio soldier during all this, evidently thinking he was really on the losing side, deserted us and rejoined his old friend the enemy once more ! Some weeks later, with a proper escort, ninety-five men and a Maxim, we tackled the town, rearrested the murderer, and then the Ibibio soldier elected to rejoin again ; but after the C.O. heard of his previous escapade and cowardly conduct, he took him back only as a prisoner under escort, gave him a dozen lashes and, I believe, dismissed him from the regiment with ignominy. Here are a few anecdotes to fill your paper or book with.— Yours very truly, A. C. Douglas. I may add, for the consolation of my kind correspondent, that the state of “ law and order ” in which I found the people in 1913 was by no manner of means oppressive ; and I am able to testify that his old friends the Ibibio still live up to the character he gives them.1 1 Further historical notes on this region will be found in my report on the Census of the Southern Provinces of Nigeria, 1921. The following extract from an article in West Africa of April 21, 1923, tells of Eket District in 1919 : “ When the armistice with Germany was signed, Eket was in a restless state ; there was an unsettled boundary dispute of long standing ; there had been no troops available to give visible weight to the decisions of the Administrative Officer in charge ; and there were many criminals— murderers with long records of victims—who had evaded justice owing to the passive resistance offered to the police by dissatisfied villages. Of these criminals several were women, of whom one, at least, had openly boasted that even if she were caught the English were ‘ too fool ’ (too tender-hearted) to hang a woman. " At the time, there appeared to the Eket peoples to be very little fear of British intervention. . . . “ ‘ A ’ Company of the 3rd Nigeria Regiment left Calabar for Oron on March 25, whence it visited many of the more important villages in the direction of Eket, burning not a few, as could be seen from Calabar during the early part of April. . . . “ During these operations, many criminals, whose capture had long proved impossible, were brought in, and it was decided to hold a trial as rapidly as was compatible with justice. The general unrest and disregard for law in the area made it advisable that the punishment of those found guilty should be as public as possible, and . . . the sentence was duly carried out ... on May 4.”