CRUEL SURERSTTTIONS, 
243 
the upper half of a human figure, emerging from 
a sort of basin ; the arms are stretched by the side, 
and between them something like a trumpet. The 
features, though characteristic of the negro, are exag- 
gerated. 
One of their most horrible and extraordinary super- 
stitions is that connected with the birth of twins ; an 
occurrence looked upon as the greatest affliction that 
can happen to an Ibu woman. The little victims are 
no sooner born than one or both are taken away, placed 
in the neighboiu'ing thicket in earthen pots or baskets, 
and left there to become the food of hyenas or other 
wild beasts. The unfortunate mother is separated for 
ever from her conjugal alliance ; she is obliged to pass 
a long period of repentance and purification, in a rude 
hut some distance from the town ; and if she outlives 
all these trials, mental and physical, and returns once 
more to society, she is regarded as an especial object of 
Fetiche wrath, and no woman will knowingly sit in her 
company, or hold communion with her. No wonder 
that it is so much dreaded by all Ibu women; to whom 
it is impossible to offer a gi'eater insult, or one which 
rouses their angry feelings more, than to say the word 
“ Abo-wadakri or by holding up two fingers, signify 
that they have had twins. 
Another equally absurd, and scarcely less cruel super- 
stition, is the sacrifice of such children as unfortu- 
nately cut the teeth first in the upper jaw. They 
believe it to indicate a wicked disposition, one hateful 
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