In the Shadow of the Bush

six to eight black rings around its tail. As if aware of its perfect security, it lay quite still until we were almost level, and then slid out of sight.

Sometimes a monitor lizard slips from a fallen tree trunk as one draws near, or a great snake ruffles the surface as it swims across with a bird, just caught, in its mouth. Huge butterflies of gorgeous coloring flutter here and there, and now and then a flash of turquoise hangs for a moment over the water as a kingfisher swoops down, to rise again with a tiny fish.

These fishes, called Tatabonko by the Efik and Ekoi, hold an important place in song and folklore. A little Efik ode to them begins—

“ Enyenne nmonn asanga nben Tatabonko.”
“ You are the lords of the water. You walk near the banks. O tiny Tatabonko.”

Every few minutes a grey heron rises, and over a small island, near the place where a Sierra Leonean has made a rice farm, circle flocks of mole-grey birds with breasts of vivid rose.

Now and again a space is passed where the coarse grass has been cropped short by that strange creature, the manatee. Except for an elephant, this is the most valuable prize which can fall to the lot of the Ekoi hunter. Egbo Societies—those powerful secret associations which, before the arrival of the white man, ruled the land—are known to give as much as £10 to £15 for a large one. This is not only because its flesh is thought to be a delicacy, but because they believe that it confers magical properties on those who eat it.

Magic is the keynote to which the lives of the Ekoi are attuned. The river itself is magical, and bold indeed would be 그 man or woman who should break an oath sworn on its name. For somewhere in its depths dwells Nimm—the terrible—who is always ready, at the call of her female worshippers, to send up her servants, the beasts that flock down to drink and bathe in her stream, to destroy the farms of those who have offended. Nimm is, above all, the object of the women’s devotion. She manifests herself sometimes as a huge snake, sometimes as a crocodile. Her priestesses have more power than those of any other cult, and the society which bears her name is strong enough to hold its own against the dreaded “Egbo Club.”