38 
THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 
however, have been collected to show 
that the older idea has not yet died out. 
Everywhere in the bush grow giant 
trees, often over 200 feet in height and 
from 80 to 100 feet in girth. Perhaps 
the most noticeable of these are the cot- 
ton trees, the smooth bark and straight 
shafts of which give them the appear- 
ance of giant columns, on which the blue 
sky rests like a dome. These forest giants 
are objects of veneration among Efik 
and Ekoi alike, and well it is to propiti- 
ate the genii of the trees, lest the latter 
open and imprison the unwary wayfarer, 
like Ariel on the island of Prospero. 
In the whole country there are no 
open spaces, save those which have been 
cleared as sites for villages or farms. 
The Ekoi spend their whole lives in the 
twilight of the beautiful, mysterious 
bush, peopled to their fancy not by wild 
animals alone, of which they have no 
fear, but by were-lopards and all kinds 
of terrible half-human shapes, and by 
the genii of trees, rocks, and rivers. 
Here more truly even than in old Greece 
the terror of Pan is everywhere. This 
atmosphere of twilight and mystery ex- 
plains the grafting of juju and fetish 
worship onto the purer and more an- 
cient forms of religion. So far as can 
be traced, the Ekoi have steadily trekked 
down from the north, for the site of 
each new town is to the south of the 
former one. 
One hears from certain sources of the 
hardships entailed on the natives in the 
making of the splendid roads, by means 
of which the British administration is 
opening up their tropical and luxuriant 
"bush" district. No one, however, is 
quicker than the natives themselves to 
see the advantages to be gained from 
such improved means of communication, 
whether as regards personal safety or 
trading facilities. On several occasions 
towns have offered, of their own free 
will, to do more than had been asked 
of them. In some cases they have even 
made a new piece of road on their own 
initiative as a surprise for my next visit 
to their part of the country. 
Another point often raised by those 
who have no practical experience of na- 
tives is the hardship entailed on the latter 
by engaging them as carriers. Perhaps 
I may mention here that it is a usual 
thing for bands of men to come in from 
a distance of 40 to 50 miles, a month 
beforehand, in order to make sure of 
being taken on as carriers for the next 
bush tour. 
OUR IMMIGRATION LAWS FROM THE VIEW- 
POINT OF NATIONAL EUGENICS 
By Prof. Robert DeC. Ward, of Harvard University 
HOW far do our present immigra- 
tion laws enable us to exclude 
those aliens who are physically, 
mentally, and morally undesirable for 
parenthood ; those whose coming here 
will tend to produce an inferior rather 
than a superior American race ; those 
who, in other words, are eugenically un- 
fit for race culture? We, in the United 
States, have an opportunity which is 
unique in history for the practice of 
eugenic principles. Our country was 
founded and developed by picked men 
and women, and today, by selecting our 
immigrants through proper legislation, 
we have the power to pick out the best 
specimens of each race to be the parents 
of our future citizens. 
The social responsibility which rests 
upon this country in this matter is over- 
whelming. We may decide upon what 
merits — physical, intellectual, or moral — 
the fathers and mothers of American 
children shall be selected ; but we have 
left the choice almost altogether to the 
selfish interests, which do not care 
whether we want the immigrants they 
bring, or whether the immigrants will 
