Up the Oguii 
country. Instead of being lazy, naked savages 
living on the spontaneous productions of the 
earth, they were (excepting the little children) 
dressed with comparative decency and were in¬ 
dustrious enough to provide everything that their 
physical comfort required. The men are build¬ 
ers, blacksmiths, iron-smelters, carpenters, cala¬ 
bash-carvers, weavers, basket-makers, hat-mak¬ 
ers, mat-makers, traders, barbers, tanners, tailors, 
farmers and workers in leather and morocco, the 
last named making saddles, shoes, sword and 
knife scabbards, quivers, pouches, satchels and 
bags of many sorts and sizes. The smelters re¬ 
duce the iron ore and from it obtain a steel of 
good quality. They make this into razors, 
swords, knives, hoes, bill-hooks, axes, arrow¬ 
heads, stirrups, tools for the carpenter and black¬ 
smith, and other things needed in ordinary busi¬ 
ness. The barber keeps a fine edge on his razors 
by whetting them on his brawny arm. 
The farmers constitute the most numerous and 
important cl^ss. The “farms” of Abeokuta ex¬ 
tend about fifteen miles around and beyond the 
city walls. They are merely small clearings in 
the tall grass and scrub growth of the country. 
Every one can cultivate as much land as he pleases 
and hold it as long as he cultivates it. Among 
21 
