THE OLD AND THE NEW 
67 
another is a very costly business. The top grade 
constitutes the order of the peacock's feather." 
To belong to that order is as proud a distinction in 
Nigeria as to be made a Knight of the British 
Empire at home. An old European trader, who 
lived in Calabar, managed to secure that coveted 
distinction, and whatever else it was worth, or not 
worth, it brought a good deal of business 
to his factory that otherwise he would have had to 
go without. I learned also that admission into 
Egbo is so jealously guarded that only one woman 
had ever been accepted for membership. Of the 
power and wealth of Egbo there hardly seems to 
be an end. I was told that the reason why no 
compounds had windows that faced the town streets 
was lest anyone not a member should be able, by 
prying, to discover any of the Egbo secrets. Egbo 
has the power to make laws, exact levies, shut up 
towns for days together, make certain things and 
people taboo, and flog without mercy. It claims 
certain fish as its peculiar portion, and altogether, 
if we except the British Government, is without 
rival or equal through the land. Do you wonder, 
then, at the strutting airs of the newly admitted 
member, and his determination that everyone 
should know of his great good fortune? A scene 
like that is one of the outstanding features of the 
old order of things. Now let me introduce you to 
one of the outstanding features of the new order the 
Mission creates. It is Sunday morning; and to' a 
youth in a certain compound it is the day he has 
prayed for and hoped to see. It is the day of his 
life. He has attended the Church services; for 
some time he has been counted a member of the 
