INTRODUCTION. 



THE YORrBA COUNTRY. 



GEOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL DESCRIPTION. 



The Yoruba country includes all the territory which is inhabited by people who speak the Yoruba 

 language. It is bounded on the East by Ibinig or Benin and the Niger, on the West by Dahonii and 

 Mahi, on the North by Barba (Borghoo) and Nufe, and on the South by the Bight of Benin. At the 

 present time it is divided into eight independent kingdoms, as follows : 



1. Iketu, situated immediately east of Dahomi, of which the extent is two thousand square miles, 

 with a population of about one hundred thousand ;* capital, Iketu. The surface of the country is level ; 

 timber and water are scarce, and the soil rather poor. Still this little kingdom has sufficient resources to 

 repel the power of Dahomi, which it has done on two occasions. 



2. £ko, or Lagos, situated immediately on the sea coast, has an area of about four hundred square 

 miles, and a population of thirty thousand. The greater part are in Lagos, the capital, which is 

 situated on a small island in the lagoon or bay, called Osa by the natives, and Cradoo by the English. 

 Lagos claims all the coast to a point some miles west of Badagry. If this claim be allowed, the area and 

 population of the kingdom are two or three times greater than above stated. 



For many years Lagos was a stronghold of the slave trade. It was then nominally dependent on 

 Benin ; but the turbulent chiefs and people seem to have paid little regard either to Benin or to their 

 own kings, who were frequently deposed and banished. Lagos is now under the protection of the English, 

 but they claim no jurisdiction over the soil or people. It is the residence of several European merchants 

 and missionaries, and bids fair to become' one of the most flourishing towns in western Africa. The 

 people speak the Yoruba language, which they frequently call the Eko ; just as the Iketus, Egbas, &c., 

 call it, after the name of their own tribes, the Iketu, the Egba, &c. By Europeans it is generally called 

 the Aku language. 



3. Egba is a small kingdom on the south of Yoruba and east of Iketu, lying on both sides of the 

 Ogui) river, but principally on the east. The whole area, including the fallen kingdom of Ota, is about 

 three thousand square miles, with a population of one hundred thousand ; the capital, Abeokuta, has a 

 population of eighty thousand souls.' The surface of the country is generally hilly, especially east of the 

 river ; the soil is unusually fertile, and the whole region well supplied with streams of clear water. 



In ancient times, as the Egba people relate, their country was a province of the Yoruba kingdom. 

 After obtaining their independence, they were governed by a king of their own ; but finally growing 

 weary of monarchy, they determined that every town should be ruled by its own chiefs. This led 

 to mutual jealousies and dissensions. About fifty years ago, these dissensions, stimulated by the slave 

 trade and by the machinations of the Idzebus and Yorubas, resulted in civil war. The Egba country 

 then contained more than a hundred towns, some affirm nearly three hundred, several of which 

 were very populous. In the course of twenty-five years, every one of these towns was swept out of 

 existence, with the single exception of Oba, wliich is yet standing, about ten miles south-west of Abeokuta, 

 It is probable that five hundred thousand people perished by sword and famine. Many thousands were 

 sold to the slave ships, and the remnant of the tribe was scattered abroad. 



The city of Abeokuta is situated on the east bank of the Ogui) river, among twenty or thirty 

 immense masses of granite, several of which rise to a height of two or three hundred feet. Forty years 

 ago, a grotto or cave under one of these rocks, which surmounts an abrupt hill, was inhabited by a band 



* It is scarcely necessary to remark that these numbers are conjectural. 



