Chapter 25

CHAPTER XXV BEFORE GOVERNMENT CAME As an illustration of the state of affairs existing before White Rule made its power felt in the land, the following account of events, which happened towards the close of the last century, may prove not without interest. It is told by Udaw Owudumo, son of the head chief of Ikot Atako, mentioned in the story, who is still alive. “ Not very long ago two boys were born in one of the compounds of our town. As they grew up, people noticed that each was anxious to gain wealth by every means in his power, so that he might outshine the other. If the elder brother bought one cow, the younger, whose name was Udaw Aha, tried to get together money to buy two. Also if the elder wished to become a member of any society in the town, or proposed to marry another wife, the younger made every effort to do the same. “ At length the elder brother got so weary of this continued rivalry, that he planned a way of ridding himself of it once and for all. He sought out some people who were known to be willing, for a price, to catch and kill men, or else sell them into far-off slavery. To the chief of the band he said : “ ‘ My small brother tries to make himself as big a man as I. So you must kill him or sell him to a far-away people, that he may never trouble me any more.’ To this they answered : “ ‘ Very well. If you are willing to pay our price, just let us know when a good chance comes to seize him.’ “ Soon after, Udaw Aha set forth to market at another town. When the elder brother learnt this, he went to his 328 confederates and said : ‘ If you hide yourselves by the side of the road this evening, you can easily seize the man on his return.’ They did as he bade, caught Udaw Aha alone and unawares, bound his hands together and were thrusting a wooden gag into his mouth, when he started to call with all his might upon the name of my father, the head chief Owudumo, to come and help him. “ A man who chanced to be passing heard the cries and ran and told the chief, who went at once to the Egbo- house and beat the big drum to call all the people together. He bade them seek round the houses and in all the bush to find where Udaw Aha was hidden. “ In the course of the search, some of the men went to the house of a chief named Etuk Inyan Ukponn, who told them that the captive had already been carried off. When my father heard this, he sent out parties to follow the slave roads. At his orders, bands scattered in every direction, and one of these came to the beach at Ikot Abiu Ata. There they found the man lying gagged and bound, about to be thrown into a canoe. “ The captors had not expected to be followed so soon, and were caught unawares. So when the rescuers, headed by my brother, Essien Owudumo, fell upon them, they ran away, leaving their captive, who was soon freed from his bonds and led home in triumph. When they returned, the chief caused a horn to be blown, to let the other search parties know that they could now come back, as the man was found. “ When the elder brother heard the news, he ran away to Opobo, thinking : ‘ I will hide myself here for a time.’ Chief Owudumo sent to bid him come back and give explanation of what he had done ; but he refused, thinking : ‘ If I go home, my small brother will harm me.’ “ The chief sent to summon him again, but the man once more refused. Meantime Udaw Aha went to his own house, and believing that his elder brother was still trying to kill him, laid his plans accordingly. “ After a time, news reached the absent man that his wife had borne him a son, so he decided to go quietly back and visit his family. “ This was the chance for which Udaw Aha had been waiting. As the elder brother passed along the road, the younger sprang upon him out of the bush, bore him to the ground and cried : “ ‘ You wanted to kill me. Now I have caught you, I will kill you ! ’—and without further word slew him there and then. “ Report was brought to the chief, who sent for the murderer and asked : ‘ Is it true that you have killed your elder brother ? ’ To which Udaw made answer: ‘ Yes. Had I not done so, he would only have tried to kill or enslave me again.’ On this the chief bade him go to his house and stay there quietly. “ Now when he killed his brother he had cut off the head, which he bore home, leaving the body by the way- side. Then he set the skull before his door, and proudly pointed it out to all passers-by, saying : “ ‘ This was my elder brother. He wanted to kill me, but the Juju helped me and I killed him first. Now, so soon as the flesh has rotted from the bone, I will take the skull and clean it and use it for my mimbo cup.’ “ To this the townsfolk answered : “ ‘ It is no matter that he was your elder brother. If you choose to make his head into a drinking-cup, you can do so, for you slew him. His body is therefore yours to treat as you will.’ “ This thing happened a little time after Government came to our country—before white men had gained full power. However angry one may be with a brother, one is not allowed to do such things now ” (!) Another story more horrible, because the cruelty therein described seems utterly senseless and wanton, was related by the son of one of the principal Eket chiefs as typical of the state of affairs “ before Government came.” He declared that many people could vouch for the truth of the tale. “ In olden days,” he said, “ when our grandfathers were young, there lived a man at ’Nduo ’Ndu, on Ubium River. His name was Umaw Eti. He had neither father nor mother. No one cared for him, and the only way in which he could find food was to snare small birds in the bush, or eat the sacrifices offered before Juju shrines. “ When food had been found in such a way, he used to take it to the Juju house, where a fire was lighted, in order to keep the building dry. Over this fire he cooked his chop, and on such food grew fat and strong. By the goodwill of the Juju he throve, and, when war came upon the town, trusting in its protection he went in front to keep off the bullets, so that none of his friends should be harmed. So all believed that he had strong medicine, and when fighting finished other people came to be under him. " Proud of his success, Umaw Eti sent for the Idiong man to come and make Idiong for him. The priest brought his boy to carry the Idiong bag, and, when they had entered the house, Eti shut the Idiong man into one of the rooms to carry out the rites and took the boy to help mend the fence round his compound. While doing this, he asked the boy : ‘ Can you jump this fence ? ’ To which the lad answered ‘ No.’ Umaw asked : ‘ Why cannot you do this ? ’ And the boy said : ‘ Because I am weak from hunger.' Then the man himself jumped over the fence and told the boy to come and try to do it too. The latter said : ‘No! I have had no food since morning.’ “ Then Umaw sent to call his wife, and when she came he said : ‘ Get plenty yams. Make fufu and put fish and meat within.’ This she did, and, when all was ready, sent to tell her husband. The latter said to the boy : ‘ Leave the fence and come and eat.’ When the lad came, he saw enough for five men, so ate what he was able and then said : ‘ I have had enough.’ Umaw replied : ‘ You told me you were hungry ; so now you must finish up all. If you will not, I shall kill you.’ The boy tried hard, but could not finish it. Then Umaw said again : ‘ If you do not make an end, I will kill you.’ The boy tried to run to his master, but Umaw caught him and cut off his head. “ Afterwards the murderer said : ‘ I will go now and kill the Idiong man also.’ One of his wives heard this and ran and told the priest : ‘ Take your Idiong and go. If you wait, my husband will kill you.’ The Idiong man said : ‘ Why should he do such a thing ? ’ She answered : ‘ Your boy is already dead.’ At once, seizing Idiong, he hid it in his bag, and ran to the main door, but the woman cried : ‘ Do not pass out by the front or my husband will see you.’ The priest asked : ‘ How shall I escape ? ’ On which the wife showed him the little back door. “ Shortly afterwards the husband came and found him fled. He asked his wife : ‘ Where is the man ? ’ She answered : ‘ I don’t know.’ He looked round for Idiong and found this gone also, so he said: ‘ I believe you told him, and that is why he fled.’ The woman answered ‘ No.’ “ Nothing further was done on that day ; but on the morrow Umaw went to farm. The wife followed, and, after they reached the place, her small piccan began to cry. The mother took the babe and gave him breast; but the husband said : ‘ I want people in my farm to work, not to suckle a piccan.’ All went on working, but the piccan cried again and the mother crept back to give him breast once more. On that the father said : ‘ I told you that when you come to farm you are not to stop working to suckle your piccan.’ So he took the babe and killed him ; on which the woman ran away weeping. “ This man did many such things. One day the mother of one of his wives came to him and he asked her : ‘ Can you smoke pipe ? ’ She said: ‘Yes. Sometimes also I eat tobacco in my mouth.’ When she said this, he went to his house and brought many heads of tobacco and gave to her. She cut a little to put in her pipe, but he said : ‘No. You are not to smoke. You are to eat up all these heads. When I asked about smoking, you answered about eating. Now you are to eat them up to the last bit.’ The woman said : ‘ If I told you I used to eat tobacco, I meant only a little, now and again. It is not possible for me to eat all this at once.’ Umaw answered : ‘You must eat it or I will kill you.’ In terror she tried to obey, but could hardly swallow more than one head, for so much tobacco hurt her heart. He called to the wife whose mother she was and, when the latter came, said: ‘ Look at your mother ! She told me she used to eat tobacco. I gave her many heads and bade her eat them ; now she is dying.’ When the daughter began to cry, the man said : ' Keep quiet. If you make a noise I will kill you also.’ So the woman made no further sound, but took the body and buried it secretly. “ Umaw did many, many other bad things. At length he fell sick, and half of him died while the other half was left alive. Then he had himself carried to the Idiong man and asked : ‘ What is the matter, that this curse has fallen upon me ? ’ The priest answered : ‘You have done so many wicked things. Now Abassi is punishing you ! Umaw asked : ‘ What must I do to grow whole again ? ’ The Idiong man answered : ‘ There is nothing to be done.’ “ After this the cruel chief lived thus for a whole year ; but then the other half of his body died also. On his burial all the townsfolk rejoiced greatly.” Okun of Idua Eket vouched for the truth of the following story, which he gave as a shining example of filial piety : “ A few years before Government came to our country, there was a chief of our town, Akpan Ete by name, who was a very great man indeed. Many slaves he had, both men and women. Cows and goats in great numbers were his also ; and he was a member of most of the principal societies of the place. “ When this man fell sick, he called his four sons round him and said : ‘ I do not think that I can be saved from this illness.’ Then, turning toward the eldest, continued : ‘ Let me not die alone, but bury with me one man and one woman from among my slaves.’ “ The son asked : ‘ Which of all your people do you choose for this service ? ’ And the father mentioned by name those whom he would have. “ Not long afterwards the chief died, and the man and woman who had been chosen were put alive in the grave. Earth was filled in, and the whole well smoothed down. “ When everything was finished, the son thought: ‘ After all, one man and one woman are not much for a chief who has always had many slaves to do his will! ’ So he killed another woman, and, taking a sharp stick, drove it through her head, fixing the body as an offering above the grave. After this had been done he said further : ‘ When my father comes to the ghost town, he will be a gentleman even as he was on earth, because his slaves will be there to serve him just as in life.’ “ At the end of the funeral ceremony, a great feast was given to all the societies of which the dead man had been a member ; at which, in addition to other gifts, one goat was dashed to each. Yet this good son was not contented, and seven days later said : “ ‘ After all, three slaves are not much for a man such as my father. I think I will spare him one more of my household.’ So he chose out another slave, ordered chop to be cooked and gave it to the victim with palm wine to drink ; then ordered him to bathe. After this, he himself painted the man over with black pigment, robed him in fine clothes, then led him down to the grave and there killed him. Afterwards he fixed the new skull near that of the woman. Next he sent and bade the townsfolk come together as before and made another feast. Afterwards all the sons and daughters donned their gayest robes, and went round to the market-place singing : ‘ Nothing that was fitting has been withheld. The rites for our father are well finished to-day.’ ” It must have been a heart-breaking experience for those first pioneers, who sought to implant the rudiments of justice and charity, as understood by nations like ourselves, in such alien soil ; and the way that this task was carried out—however unknown and unpraised—was perhaps as heroic as anything in history. Incidents which illustrate the peculiarly macabre turn of mind typical of people such as these were more frequent and forcible in the early days of white administration than now. To give an instance, which happened when Mr. E. D. Simpson was in charge of Eket District. One day a grey-faced messenger sought the presence of the District Commissioner to inform him of a strange craft tethered during the night upon the little Government beach. It was in the shape of a canoe formed from a man’s body, split down the middle of the ribs and held apart by bars of wood just like the seats of a boat. The hands were lashed to the sides and the feet bound together to form the prow. Firmly fixed near the head was a piece of paper bearing the words, “ A canoe with which to find the murderer.” Until White Rule grew strong in the land, the chiefs of ’Mkpokk and Ikot Akpa-Atekk were lords paramount of all the country west of the Kwa Ibo, and used to send out and capture slaves from neighbouring villages. Till quite recent times, indeed, these two towns were great slave-dealing centres, and should boys or girls stray forth alone, they were liable to be seized, thrust into a sack, and carried off to be sold to the “ slavers.” Tradition reports that “ Portuguese ” sailing vessels, engaged on this nefarious traffic, penetrated “ by means of tide and breeze ” up the Kwa Ibo as far as the mouth of the Awa River. Whether or no there be any truth in the story, a grim relic of “ Portuguese slavers ” is said to exist at ’Mkpokk, where the skulls of two white men are reported to be kept, as a great Juju, in one of the local shrines. The story, though heard from many sides, is unverified. To the east of the Kwa Ibo, the greater number of slaves were either taken straight to Calabar, there to be handed over to European traders, or via Ibeno, along the shore to Efftatt (Tom Shott). In the absence of slaving ships, those west of the river were also led down by the last-named route. Even in this part of the world, the cruelties practised by the chiefs of Ikot Akpa-Atekk were looked upon as excessive. In this town never a week passed by, it is said, without a man being sacrificed. The usual way of bringing this about was for one of the official executioners to mark down a victim quietly mending nets or going about his usual work ; then, creeping up from behind, the murderer struck off the head and bore it to the lord of the town. Immediately, on sight of the trophy, the chief used to send to the dead man’s compound, and seize all the property, including the family, who were sold as slaves. Till four or five years ago, human victims are stated to have been offered up in the neighbouring bush ; and surrounding towns still suspect the men of Ikot Akpa- Atekk of continuing the practice in secret. While inarching through this region with the small escort accorded me to impress upon the people, who showed signs of unrest, that Government was determined to see law and order upheld, an incident occurred which showed the opinion with which they are still regarded by loyal supporters of White Rule. Camp had been pitched in the centre of the town, and all save sentries were peacefully sleeping, when suddenly a loud report right in our midst brought every one, in varying degrees of undress but fully armed, to the scene of the supposed attack. Not a man doubted but that the townsfolk were keeping up their ancient reputation for ferocity, and had assembled to wipe us out. It was finally found that the alarm was caused by a coco-nut which had fallen from a neighbouring tree and rolled near one of the fires, where the heat caused it to explode. The escort’s hopes of a little excitement were thus proved vain, and the men sought their couches with many shakes of head, sadly murmuring : “ These people plenty bad too much ! ” Among the Eket a faint tradition yet lingers of “a priest who slew the slayer and must himself be slain.” This came to our knowledge through the following story, told, with slight variations, by two well-known Ibibio : “ In the olden time, far away from here, there dwelt a people called Ikot Ako Any an. The last name was given them because they worshipped the great Juju ‘ Anyan.’ “ Every year, at the time when the yam vines first clothe their poles with green, the people of Ikot Ako used to come down into the Ibibio country, and ask that an old chief might be delivered over to them, to become priest of their Juju until the same season came round again. When this request had been granted, they went away, leaving a blessing upon the farms. “ Year after year the Ibibio pleaded that, in exchange for the annual toll levied upon their chiefs, a part of the Juju might be left with them. For a long time the strangers refused, but at length said : ‘ We agree.’ “ Then the Ibibio were very glad, and brought small earthen bowls, as they were bidden. These were about six inches across and three in breadth. A little of the Juju medicine was laid in each and given to the head man of every town and village with the order : “ ‘ Set this by the place whence your drinking water is drawn, and over it build a small shrine. Before you eat of the new yams, bring thither an offering. Dried fish you must bring, together with palm-oil and bunches of plantains ; jars of water also, taken from the river when the tide is at the full. Choose one man from every place to be the guardian of the Juju. He it is who shall take the offerings, cook them, and mix them with the new yams. “ ‘ While the feast is being prepared you must give a play with dancing and rejoicing, crying aloud : “ Our time for the eating of new yams has come ! ” When this is over, every one may feast without fear of sickness or trouble. “ ‘ Should a childless woman come before the Juju with like offerings, her husband lays them in the hands of the priest saying : “ My wife has never borne a child. Now, I beg you, play the play of this Juju, that the spirit may hear and send her a piccan before the year’s end.” Then the prayer is almost sure to be granted.’ “ Such a child is named Anyan in honour of the Juju, and, so soon as it is old enough to leave the house, the mother must carry it to the shrine by the water-side, while her husband attends them with the offering ordained. For such an one, fowls, eggs, and coco-yams are forbidden. Should any child of the Juju eat of these, he would surely die. “ Of all the Ibibio chiefs led away to be priests, none ever came back, for each died within the year, and another was chosen in his stead. Some say the Juju killed them ; but others state that each year the new priest slew his predecessor, knowing full well that in twelve more moons he must himself be slain.” It was, unfortunately, impossible to get more definite information. We were told, vaguely, that the Ikot Akos z never came to this country any more, nor did the Ibibio go to theirs. Moreover, these were stories of long ago, forgotten by all save a few old men. Therefore it was no longer possible to learn anything further. A year later, while engaged on a study of the Ibo people, good fortune brought us to a town of some five thousand inhabitants, the spiritual ruler of which owns that each of his predecessors was “ a priest who slew the slayer and must himself be slain.” The present holder of the dignity, naturally, showed some reticence concerning the steps by which he himself succeeded to office.