Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 3.djvu/321

THE TOGO TEEEITORY. 265 merits, but the white and blue cottons formerly exported to Brazil have been driven out of the market by Manchester goods. As builders the Yorubas excel all natives of Africa, some of their palaces comprising as many as fifty rooms. The doors and friezes of the verandahs are embellished with carvings representing scenes of war or the chase, fantastic animals and religious symbols. They have a special veneration for the furniture made of sassa, because this wood often creaks and moans, especially at night. Although unacquainted with letters, they are said to have had little knotted cords for recording events, like the Peruvian quippos. The power of the Yoruba obbas, or hereditary'- kings, is limited by usage, while each town has its semi-independent chief, appointed by the sovereign, and enjoying royal prerogatives. Chiefs and governors alike are assisted by councils of the notables, and on great emergencies the whole people are occasionally sum- moned to a general national assembly. The authorities are also held in check by the ahoni, a powerful secret society, whose members are bound together by solemn oaths. They are at once judges and executioners, all sentences being carried out by themselves. As in Dahomey, the kings were formerly followed to the grave by a numerous suite of ministers, women, and slaves, the latter massacred by force, the former politely invited to drink the poisoned cup. Belief in ghosts is universal, and the most minute precautions are taken to prevent the return of departed friends. Their arms are buried beyond the gates of the city, and are thus concealed from the owners who might happen to return at night from the other world. The bodies of children are thrown away in the forests, all premature deaths being ascribed to the evil spirits, who are thus circumvented. But the old nature- worship has been greatly modified during the last four hundred years by the influence both of the Portuguese and of the Filani (Fulahs), and other Mohammedans advancing from the interior. The Obba-el-Orun, or " King of Heaven," has been gradually confounded either with the God of the Christians or the Allah of the Mussulmans. He is even called Obba-t-Alla, or " Lord Allah," and has been diversely associated with the tribal traditions and missionary legends. Certain rites practised in several places along the coast are evidently of Catholic origin, introduced by the Portuguese or Brazilians. But all forms of religion are gradually giving way to Islam, which is everywhere preached by the traders from the banks of the Niger. Togo. The hitherto unknown term Togo has suddenly acquired a certain political importance, since it has been adopted as the name of the western district on the British frontier occupied in 1884 by the Germans. According to Zoller this territory, of nearly quadrilateral form, is about 22 miles long both ways, with an area of 520 square miles, and a population roughly estimated at forty thousand. More recent inland annexations in the Krapi and Mina territories have consider- 81— AF