320 W. F. Daniell, Esq., on the Natives of Old Callebar. 



day of ceremonious observance, but it is only on days set 

 apart for the performance of the mysterious rites of Grand 

 Egbo that every house vt^ithin the town is closed, none of the 

 inhabitants being permitted to leave them, under the penalty 

 of death or severe corporeal punishment ; and to enforce the 

 strict maintenance of these dictates, two or three persons 

 called Egbo-men, fantastically dressed and masked, parade 

 the town, with a whip of extraordinary dimensions, which 

 they indiscriminately apply to all who has not purchased the 

 prescribed licence to be abroad. The public avenues during 

 the continuance of these ceremonies are entirely deserted, 

 and not a person is to be seen, where, only a few moments 

 previous, some hundreds were congregated. All individuals 

 may purchase these Egbo distinctions, but slaves are never 

 permitted to obtain any other than the inferior grades. The 

 king is at the head of the highest class of Egboes, and the 

 other classes have usually a chief for their director, who is 

 entitled the king of that particular Egbo. 



Marriage, among all the native tribes of this part of Africa, 

 is merely a civil contract between the parties. The bride, 

 prior to her finally residing with her destined husband, sits 

 in state for several days, surrounded with her female attend- 

 ants, and profusely adorned with brass rings round her 

 ankles, and strings of various coloured beads encircling her 

 arms and neck, especial attention being paid to the decora^ 

 tion of the head, which is commonly surmounted with a bril- 

 liant tiara of ornaments. The friends of the lady, whilst she 

 undergoes this antenuptial probation, bring various presents 

 of money, clothes, bijouterie, and live-stock, most of which 

 are killed in the presence of the bride, for the series of feasts 

 given by her parents to the friends and acquaintances of the 

 family. Polygamy is maintained, in full accordance with the 

 customs of all African communities, in the Bight of Biafra, 

 the number of wives each individual may possess varying in 

 proportion to his rank and wealth. There is always one 

 head wife, who has ample control over the others. Women, 

 however, of all classes, are not so strictly immured in their 

 apartments as those of the kings, who are not allowed to be 

 seen by any male inhabitants under the pain of death. No 



