Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Preface
- Contents
- CHAPTER I 1829
- CHAPTER II 1830, 1831
- CHAPTER III 1832
- CHAPTER IV 1832, 1833
- CHAPTER V 1834, 1835
- CHAPTER VI 1836, 1837
- CHAPTER VII 1837, 1838
- CHAPTER VIII 1838-1840
- CHAPTER IX 1841-1844
- CHAPTER X 1841-1845
- CHAPTER XI 1845
- CHAPTER XII 1846
- CHAPTER XIII 1846
- CHAPTER XIV 1846
- CHAPTER XV 1846, 1847
- CHAPTER XVI 1847
- CHAPTER XVII 1847
- CHAPTER XVIII 1847
- CHAPTER XIX 1847, 1848
- CHAPTER XX 1848, 1849
- CHAPTER XXI 1850
- CHAPTER XXII 1850
- CHAPTER XXIII 1850
- CHAPTER XXIV 1851
- CHAPTER XXV 1851
- CHAPTER XXVI 1852
- CHAPTER XXVII 1852
- CHAPTER XXVIII 1853, 1854
- CHAPTER XXIX 1855
- CHAPTER XXX 1856
- CHAPTER XXXI 1857
- CHAPTER XXXII 1858
- CHAPTER XXXIII 1858
- APPENDIX
- Plate section
CHAPTER XXV - 1851
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 September 2011
- Frontmatter
- Preface
- Contents
- CHAPTER I 1829
- CHAPTER II 1830, 1831
- CHAPTER III 1832
- CHAPTER IV 1832, 1833
- CHAPTER V 1834, 1835
- CHAPTER VI 1836, 1837
- CHAPTER VII 1837, 1838
- CHAPTER VIII 1838-1840
- CHAPTER IX 1841-1844
- CHAPTER X 1841-1845
- CHAPTER XI 1845
- CHAPTER XII 1846
- CHAPTER XIII 1846
- CHAPTER XIV 1846
- CHAPTER XV 1846, 1847
- CHAPTER XVI 1847
- CHAPTER XVII 1847
- CHAPTER XVIII 1847
- CHAPTER XIX 1847, 1848
- CHAPTER XX 1848, 1849
- CHAPTER XXI 1850
- CHAPTER XXII 1850
- CHAPTER XXIII 1850
- CHAPTER XXIV 1851
- CHAPTER XXV 1851
- CHAPTER XXVI 1852
- CHAPTER XXVII 1852
- CHAPTER XXVIII 1853, 1854
- CHAPTER XXIX 1855
- CHAPTER XXX 1856
- CHAPTER XXXI 1857
- CHAPTER XXXII 1858
- CHAPTER XXXIII 1858
- APPENDIX
- Plate section
Summary
A remarkable case of imputed witchcraft came from Ekrikok to Creek Town for adjudication. The private use of the esére, or poison bean, otherwise “chop nut,” had been forbidden, and its judicial use placed under Egbo authority, at the time of the prohibition of human sacrifices. Thus it was restrained and sanctioned at the same time, taken from the hand of personal revenge and placed in that of public justice. From King Eyo's known aversion to “abia-idiong and free-mason palaver,” we hoped that he would not allow anything of the kind in his capital; but in this instance were grievously disappointed.
The case was this:—Of four brothers who lived in Ekrikok the eldest had died, and the youngest charged the other two with ifod or witchcraft against him. An abia-idiong had declared it; the deceased believed it; a wife was involved in the accusation; and the country knew no better way of settling the matter than by applying the customary test, in which all parties had such implicit faith.
It was after dark when a secret message reached us that “the free-mason palaver” was being tried in the town; the woman had “chopped nut” already, and the men waited their turn. Mr. Thomson and I hastened down, and found a great crowd in the street surrounding the front of Tom Eyo's house in a semi-circle, in the centre of which were torches and lanterns, and the three victims seated on the ground.
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- Twenty-Nine Years in the West Indies and Central AfricaA Review of Missionary Work and Adventure, 1829–1858, pp. 480 - 495Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010First published in: 1863