1O20 REPORT— 1898. 



customs ; of Ju-Juism in tlie Delta, with some account of devil huts ; of the long 

 Ju-Ju of the Delta, its uses and abuses ; of defilement and purification, human 

 sacrifices and ' father-making,' ordeals, poisoners, and methods of poisoning ; and 

 concludes with an estimate of the capabilities and future of the West African. 



4. Ancient Works of Art from Benin City. By C. H. Read, F.S.A. 



Benin is an inland city, situated about 70 miles up the river of the same name 

 in the Niger district. Its position near this great waterway has brought it into 

 contact with influences from the north by means of the great trade routes which 

 diverge towards the north from such trading centres as, e.g., Timbuktu. It was 

 thus possible that in Benin might be found some relics of the ancient civilisations 

 of the Mediterranean ; an opinion held by the late Sir Richard Burton. Relations . 

 with Abyssinia are founded on the journey of a Franciscan friar from the neigh- 

 bourhood of Benin to Christian Ethiopia in the fourteenth century, and some 

 corroboration is found in the Benin tradition that the king was subject to a 

 powerful prince far to the east. 



In the hope of finding evidence of these traditions in the loot that came from 

 Benin Mr. Read had made representations to the Government, with the result 

 that a large collection of ancient examples of Benin art had been secured for the 

 British Museum, though it could scarcely be said that they had any direct bearing 

 on the relations of Benin with either the extreme north of Africa or the east. 



A document of great interest bearing on their origin was a report of Sir Ralph 

 Moor, giving the account of a palaver with seven natives — the Court historian, 

 three Ju-ju men, the master smith, master wood carver, and the master ivory 

 carver ._ _ After giving the list of the kings of Benin, twenty-three in all, these 

 authorities recited the great events that had taken place in each reign. From this 

 account it appears that the white men first came in the time of King Esige, the 

 tenth in the list, and one of them, named Ahammangiwa, made the plaques and 

 brasswork for the king. Assuming an average reign of twenty to twenty-five 

 years for each of the kings, this would bring the time of Esige to about 300 

 years ago — a date that would correspond very well with the date of the European 

 costumes shown in the plaques. It was somewhat difficult to obtain the average 

 duration of the reign of an African potentate, but taking the reigns of Chinese and 

 Japanese emperors for 300 years, the average duration of these was twenty-seven 

 {md twenty years respectively. Following these lines, it would seem that the 

 Benin tradition as given in Sir Ralph Moor's report was very likely to be accurate. 



5. On the Languages of Kavirondo. By C. W. Hobley, F.R.G.S. 



The paper introduced a number of vocabularies collected by the author, reference 

 copies of which have been deposited in the library of the Anthropological Institute , 

 until circumstances permit of their publication in full. 



G. On Egypt under the First Three Dynasties, in the Light of Recent 

 Discoveries. By Professor W. M. Flinders Petrie. 



7. On the Folk-lore of the Outer Hebrides. By Miss A. Goodrich-Freeb.] 



The folk-lore of the Outer Hebrides has a degree of interest which justifies 

 the labour and inconvenience attendant on the conditions under which alone itg 

 collection is possible. The islanders, among whom the author has spent many! 

 months and gathered stories in the strangest surroundings, are courteous alwaysJ 

 but reticent, proud, and suspicious, as well they may be, of English or even o^ 

 Scot ; and yet with an almost childlike friendliness for those who come among 



