In a Native Caravan 
they presently came up with us and passed us 
with a rush. He then explained that they were 
all Ejahyay people who had taken loads to Abeo- 
kuta. They were all mortally afraid of Kumee 
their ruler and he had told them that their con¬ 
duct would be reported to Kumee so soon as he 
reached the city. He knew that this would 
frighten them and that they would not let him 
get to the city first. When we arrived at the 
missionary’s home we found them awaiting us in 
the best of humors. We parted good friends and 
Kumee never heard of their conduct. Their 
danger arose from the fact that their ruler had 
notified the people of Ejahyay that the white man 
was under his special protection and that they 
must treat him kindly. Just outside the gate we 
had to cross a creek that is always past fording 
in the rainy season; but as it was the dry season, 
my wife did not have to cross in the calabash 
ferry. 
There is nothing like a census among these 
people, but judging from the number of males in 
the city who were capable of bearing arms, the 
population of Ejahyay at that time must have 
been fully one hundred thousand. It was strongly 
fortified not only by a ditch and adobe wall, but 
by a belt of forest entirely encircling the place. 
49 
