S'OO ,-« CORNELL U M LYE.il SI TY LIBRARY BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND GIVEN IN 1891 BY HENRY WILLIAMS SAGE Cornell University Library DT 500.E47E9 EwMpkina peoples of the g I 1924 028 624 926 Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tlie Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028624926 EWE-SPEAKING PEOPLES. THE EWE-SPEAKING PEOPLES OF THE SLAVE COAST OF WEST AFEICA THEIR RELIGION, MANNEBS, CUSTOMS, LAWS, LANGUAGES, dx. A. B. ELLIS, MAJOR, FIRST BATTALION WEST INDIA REGIMENT: AUTHOR OF "THE TSHI-SPEAKIKG PEOPLES OF THE GOLD COAST,' ETC. ETC. LONDON: CHAPMAN AND HALL, LrMITED. 1890. [All rights reserved.] PREFACE. The kindly manner in which the Tslii-speaking Peoples of the Gold Coast, my first essay in anthropology, was received by the press, has encouraged me to per- severe in the task which I had proposed to myself when I commenced to write that book, and which was to show, by examples taken from certain negro peoples of the West Coast of Africa, how the evolution of religion may proceed. The peoples I had in mind were — (1) The Tshi-speak- ing peoples pf the Gold Coast ; ("2) The Ga-spcaking peoples of the Gold Coast ; (3) Tiie Ewe-speaking peoples of the Slave Coast ; and (4) The Yoruba-speaking peoples of the Slave Coast ; whose languages all belong to one family, and who have apparently all sprung from one common stock. These peoples are situated on the West Coast of Africa in the above order, beginning with the most westerly, and the date of their separation into their present lingual groups must have been rather remote, as Tshi, Ga, Ewe, and Yoruba are now four distinct languages, whose common origin can only be determined by their construction and roots. The people of these four groups have not progressed equally since their separation. Speaking genei'ally, it may be said that, proceeding from west to east, we find a gradual advance in civilization ; the Tshi-spcaking peoples being the least, and the Yoruba-speaking peoples the most, advanced. How far this may be due to local conditions and surrounding-!, I do not pretend to say ; vl PREFACE. hut it appears probable that man would be more retarded in his progress in such a forested and impenetrable country as that of the Gold Coast ,_than_when s itaatfid on the comparatively open plains, west of the lower Niger, which are typical of Yor.uba country. However, whatever may be the cause, as the peoples of these four groups have not all progressed at the same rate, they afford ua an opportunity for observing how different religious notions are evolved by the same race when in different stages of culture. The religious beliefs of the Ga-speaking peoples resembling very closely those described in my former book, I have, for the time being, omitted any description of them ; and in this volume proceed to the Ewe-speak- ing peoples, amongst whom the crude conceptions of the Tshi-speaking peoples will be found to have been con- siderably modified. Amongst the Yorubas, as I hope to be able to show at some future date, they are still more materially changed. Incidentally, in collecting information concerning the religion of these peoples, I gathered information respect- ing other matters — their laws, government, etc. — which I have included in the same volumes, not with the intention of putting them forward as complete reconls of their social and mental condition, for there is an immense amount yet to be collected ; but in order to make a commencement, a starting-point, from which a systematic and more complete study of these hitherto neglected peoples may be made. Nassau, New Providence, Bahamas, July 1890. INTRODUCTOEY CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. RELIGIOUS BELIEFS CHAPTER II. 13 GENERAL DEITIES CHAPTER III. 31 TRIBAL DEITIES CHAPTER IV. 54 LOCAL DEITIES CHAPTER V. 77 CHAPTER VI. AMULETS, OMENS, AND VARIOUS SUPERSTITIONS CHAPTER VII. THE INDWELLING SPIRITS AND SOULS OF MEN CHAPTER VIII. HUMAN SACRIFICES CHAPTER IX. THE PRIESTHOOD CHAPTER X. CEREMONIES AT BIRTH, MARRIAGE, AND DEATH 91 101 117 139 153 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XI. SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT CHAPTER XIV. LANGUAGE PAtiE 161 CHAPTER XII. MILITARY SYSTEM OF DAHOMI ... ■■■ ■■• •■• 182 CHAPTER XIII. LAWS AND CUSTOMS ... ... ■■. ••■ ■•• 199 ... 229 CHAPTER XV. PROVERBS AND FOLK-LOKE ... ... ... ... 258 CHAPTER XVI. HISTORY OP DAHOMI ... ... ... ... ... 279 THE EWE-SPEAKING PEOPLES OP THE SLAVE COAST OF WEST AFRICA. CHAPTER I. IISrTRODUCTORY. The Slave Coast is that portion of tile West African coast situated between the Volta Eiver on the west and the delta of the Niger on the east, the Benin River being taken as the western boundary of the latter, and thus extends from about 30' east longitude to about 5° 8' east longitude. Geologically, the features of this tract are entirely different to those of the Gold Coast. The latter, as has been already stated, is hilly, the coast-line showing numerous small hills ; and the country inland rising by successive steps in ranges of hills, which culminate in the well-known Adansi Hills, and the Kwao range more to the east. It, is covered with dense and impenetrable forest, and the/ lagoon system extends over but small areas, such as from the Volta River to the westward towards Ningo. To the east of the Volta, however, that is, from the commencement of the Slave Coast, ^ 2 THE EWE-SPEAKING PEOPLES. the lagoon system is almost continuous, and, generally speaking, the whole littoral consists of a ridge of sand, varying in breadth from a few yards to two or three miles, shutting off from the sea the broad stretches of shallow water that are termed lagoons. From the existence of old sea-beaches lying parallel Avith the present shore, and which are to be found several miles inland, it is evident that the continent is at this part gaining upon the sea. A sand-bank is formed, and gradually rises above the sea-level, enclosing a stretch of water behind it ; then the bed of this salt lake gradually silts up, partly through the alluvium that is washed down during the rains, and partly through a slow process of upheaval which appears to be in pro- gress ; until at last, instead of a shallow sheet of water, there is a broad sandy plain, whose origin is explained by the old beaches which bound it on the south, by the presence of lagoon shells in large quantities, and by tlie entire absence of every description of stone and rock. Thus the lagoon lying behind Quittah (Keta),^ which at the time of my sojourn there in 1878 was from twelve to fifteen miles broad, has since, I have been informed, become much diminished ; and at that time there was, between Elmina Chica and Adafiia, a dry bed more than five miles broad, the soil of which was still too much impregnated with salt to admit of vegetation, showing that the lagoon had been formerly even more extensive. The cause of the formation of these sand-ridges is at present undetermined. Possibly there may be coral reefs, upon which the sand, swept along the shore by the Guinea current, tends to accumulate ; or it may be 1 Ke (sand), ta (head). Hence, "On the top of the sand." INTRODUCTORY. 3 that their formation is simply due to that current, which, acting constantly from west to east, sweeps the snnd into long lines, and obliterating every bay aud headland, leaves the coast-line as we now find it, almost a straight line. In 1878 a sand-bank began to appear above water at Quittah, parallel with and about two hundred yards from the existing beach, and, as far as I could then ascertain, it was caused solely by the action of the current. There was at that time an undoubted tendency towards the formation of an outer lagoon, but I am unaware if the movement has since continued. From the sea the whole coast-line appears low and flat, without any hill to break the monotony of its outline. From six to eight miles inland from Adafiia, after traversing a sandy plain, one finds a steep bank of red earth, running east and west, surmounted by trees, and marking an ancient coast-line ; while to the north- east of Agweh, between the lagoon north of that town and the village of Akraku, there is another broad sandy plain, similarly bounded, and which, though dry at most ; periods, is still covered with water during the rains. I Further to the eastward, however, the encroachments of ' the land upon the sea have been on a much larger scale. E Whydah is two miles from the lagoon, which is about i 300 yards broad and waist-deep, and the intervening i tract consists of parallel ridges of argillaceous soil running j east and west, the depression between every two ridges r: being almost at the lagoon level, and filled with water [' during the rains. The highest point in Whydah is t: scarcely forty feet above the sea-level. North of Savi, < which is five miles north of Whydah, is the Nyin-sin swamp, which, now mere mud, is shown in the map 4 THE EWE-SPEAKING PEOPLES. published in Dalzel's History of Dahomey, 1793, as a large lagoon communicating with the Lagos Lagoon, and Richard Norris (1772) refers to it as a deep and rapid stream. Beyond Savi the old lagoon bed of alluvial clay and crystalline sand extends as far as Toffo, which place is thirty-five miles in a- straight line from the sea, and is covered throughout with remains of lagoon shells, without a vestige of stone or rock. Just beyond Toffo occurs a marshy belt, called Ko by the natives, which, like all these depressions, rims east and west. It is from six to seven miles broad, and at the lowest point there is a small stream, in the bed of which rock appears for the first time. It is undoubtedly an old lagoon bed, and, according to native reports, it extends from the Denham Waters on the east to the Togo Lake, or Hacco Lagoon, at Porto Seguro on the west. It is only to the north of the Ko that the ancient coast-line is reached, and the bush-covered, swampy bottoms are exchanged for open plateaux, dotted with clumps of forest. According to the maps of the earlier European ex- plorers, there was, prior to the seventeenth century, one continuous water-way by lagoon from the Volta to the Niger Delta, but its continuity is now broken at two points, namely, between Elmina Chica and Bageida, and at Godome. The silting up of the lagoon at the latter place is very recent, for, within the memory of living men, there used to be water-communication between Porto Novo and Whydah. It is to be observed that at these two points no rivers discharged into the lagoon, and so assisted to keep the water-way open ; while the Tojeng and Aka flow into the Quittah Lagoon, two streams into the Togo Lake, the Agomeh, or Monu Eiver, INTRODUCTORY. 5 into the Great Popo Lagoon, the Zunu, or Eso River, into the Denham Waters, the Okpara into the Porto Novo Lagoon, and several rivers, of which the principal is the Ogun, into the Lagos lagoon system. There are but three direct outlets to the sea, as the Quittah Lagoon drains into the Volta River, namely, one at Grand Popo, one at Lagos, and one at Lekki. As might be expected from its comparatively recent formation, the country is, generally speaking, open, and there is but little true forest. The valleys of the rivers are wooded, and the mangrove flourishes in the swamps and along the shores of the lagoons, but the prevailing feature of the country is a grass-covered plain, dotted with clumps of trees and euphorbia. The climate is not less unhealthy than that of the Gold Coast, and, indeed, is by some authorities con- sidered worse. There are two dry seasons and two wet, corresponding with the movements of the sun, which reaches the zenith about the middle of March, and again about the middle of September. The principal wet season therefore lasts from the middle of March to the middle of July ; an interval of dry weather then lasts till about the middle of September, the " little rains " continue till about the middle of December, and the dry season proper completes the remainder of the year. The Harmattan wind prevails principally in January and February. The inhabitants of the Slave Coast consist of the following tribes and states, commencing with the most westerly, and on the sea-front. L Awuna, whose territory extends along the sea- coast from the V^olta to Kiedje, a village about five miles 6 THE EWE-SPEAKING PEOPLES. east of Quittah, and comprises the islands and northern shores of the Quittah Lagoon, and the left bank of the Volta for some forty-fis^e miles inland. The small states of Avenor and Ataklu, to the north of the lagoon, arc dependencies of Awuna. 2. Agbosomi. From Kiedje to about twelve miles to the east. The territory of this tribe formerly extended as far west as Quittah. 3. Allao, or Flohow. From Agbosomi to about six miles to the east. Its capital is Danu. 4. Togo-land. From Aflao to Bageida. 5. Geng. From Bageida to the river Akraku. This territory is divided into the districts of Porto Seguro, Little Popo, and Agweh. Gliji was the former capital of the whole. 6. Great Popo. From the river Akraku to about three miles east of the villasje of Arlo. 7. Dahomi. From Great Popo to Kotonu. The king- dom of Dahomi extends inland about one hundred and twenty miles ; the Zunu, or Eso River, is considered its eastern boundary, and the Monu, or Agomeh River, its western ; but these only have reference to the southern half of the kingdom, for to the north and north-west its limits are undefined, and to the north-east it extends certainly as far as the sources of the Yewa, and perhaps beyond. Its broadest part is to the north, and at the south it narrows to about thirty miles. Agbomi, the capital, is about sixty-one miles distant from Whydah by road, and about fifty-one miles as the crow flies. 8. Kotonu, which occupies about five miles of sea- board. 9. Fra. From Kotonu to Pogii INTRODUCTORY. 7 10. Appa. From Pogi to Badagry. To the east of Appa are the old states of Badagry, Lagos, and Lekki, which have for some years been blended into the colony of Lagos. These states are inhabited by Yoruba-speaking peoples, and so do not come within the scope of this volume. Inland to the north of the territories of the above- mentioned tribes are the following — 11. Anfueh. North and north-west of Awuna. Its capital is Peki. 12. Krepe. West of Anfueh. 13. Ewe-awo. North of Anfueh. 14. Agotine. East of Anfueh. 15. Krikor. South-east of Agotine. 16. Mahi, or, less properly, Makki. This is the most north-easterly territory occupied by the Ewe- speaking peoples, and the distance to which it extends inland is unknown. It lies north of Dahomi, and is supposed to extend to the west of that kingdom in a broad belt to Krikor and Agotine. Little, however, is known about it, and it is probable that it is inhabited by semi-independent tribes, such as the Aja and the Attakpami, who live immediately to the north-west of Dahomi. 17. Ewemi. North of Kotonu. This state is subject to Dahomi. 18. Porto Novo. North of Era. Of these tribes 1, 2, 3, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, and 15 are under British rule ; 4 and 5 are German ; 6, 8, and 18 are French. The boundary between the German and French territories is a meridian passing through the west point of the island of Bayol, in the lagoon, and S THE EWE-SPEAKING PEOPLES. runs inland as far north as the ninth degree of north latitude. All these tribes speak dialects of one languao-e, the Ewe, with the exception of the people of Agotine, who speak Adanme, the language of Krobo and of the in- habitants of the right bank of the lower Volta, and which is a dialect of the Ga language. The Agotines, a small tribe, appear to have emigrated and settled in their present locality about the period of the destruction of the old kingdom of Accra by the Ak warn us in 1680. At the same date others of the inhabitants of Accra fled to and settled at Little Popo, where they still inhabit a distinct quarter of the town in which the Ga language is spoken. With the exception, then, of these two ^foreign colonies from the west of the Volta, the Ewe language prevails from that river for a distance of 155 miles eastward along the coast, and inland to an unknown distance, probably about 200 miles. It is also spoken in seven towns on the right bank of the Volta, namely from Agrafo on the south to Bato on the north, where the people of Ewe stock have migrated across the river. Its approximate area will be better understood by a reference to the map. Low in the scale of civilization as are the Ewe- speaking peoples, they have in some respects advanced beyond the condition in which we found the Tshi- speaking peoples of the Gold Coast ; for though both have been, and are still, obstructed in their progress by climatic influences, yet the more open character of the country occupied by the former, where the different communities are not shut ofi" and separated from each other by vast tracts of impenetrable forest, has facilitated INTRODUCTORY. 9 the interchange of ideas, and rendered them more amenable to civilizina; influences. The interior of the country of the Slave Coast, especially in Dahomi, has moreover been known to Europeans for a longer period than that of the Gold Coast. The Prah was crossed and Ashanti visited for the first time by a European, Mr. Bowdich, in 1817; whereas an Englishman resided at Agbomi, the Dahomi capital, from 1708 to 1726 ; and during the latter part of the eighteenth century it was customary for all the European residents of Whydah, English, Dutch, Portuguese, and French, to proceed to the capital and remain there during the celebration of the Annual Customs ; and without attributing too much to the influence of these personages, most of whom, if not all, were slave-traders, it may reasonably be sup- posed that the frequent contact with individuals of a more advanced race had some beneficial eff'ect upon the natives. And this contact was so frequent that in the preface to Dalzel's History of Dahomey, 1793, we find the remark that "the short interval from Whydah beach to Abomey is perhaps the most beaten track, by Europeans, of any in Africa." The Ewe-speaking peoples of the Slave Coast present the ordinary characteristics of the uncivilized negro. In early life they evince a degree of intelligence which, compared with that of the European child, appears pre- cocious ; and they acquire knowledge with facility till they arrive at the age of puberty, when the physical nature masters the intellect, and frequently completely deadens it. This peculiarity, which has been observed amono-st others of what are termed the lower races, has been attributed by some physiologists to the early 10 THE EWE-SPEAKING, PEOPLES. closing of the sutures of the cranium, and it is worthy of note that throughout West Africa it is by no means rare to find skulls without any apparent transverse or longitudinal sutures. Like most inhabitants of the tropics, whether black or white, the negroes of the Slave Coast have more spontaneity and less application, more intuition and less reasoning power, than the inhabitants of temperate climates. They can imitate, but they cannot invent, or even apply. They constantly fail to grasp and generalize a notion. Thus M. Borghero says, concerning these very tribes — " A negro learns more easily, and in loss time, a rule of arithmetic, but when it becomes a question of applying that rule to something besides mere figures, of establishing some conclusion by the aid of that rule, he is very much embarrassed ; while the European, who will have taken a much longer time to learn the rule, will be able to deduce the general law without difficulty, and obtain from it a variety of prac- tical results. This difference is manifested throughout his entire life." They are usually deficient in energy, and their great indolence makes them easily submit to the despotism of kings, chiefs, and priests ; while they are as improvident as they are indolent. Many of these moral deficiencies may be attributed to the relaxing influences of a hot climate, which besides being primarily inimical to physical and mental energy, causes on the other hand a greater amount of intensity whenever the state of indolence is overcome, to which the savage outbursts of passion and the frantic excesses of the negro in moments of excitement are due. Others may be ascribed to the social condition and the general INTRODUCTORY. 11 sense of insecurity. Where life is uncertain, of what advantage is it to prepare for the morrow 1 Where any improvement in condition is only likely to arouse the cupidity of an irresponsible chief, why seek to improve it ? Hence we find a great indifference to the future, and the masses regard everything not bearing immediately upon their necessities with an apathy which, in its turn, prevents them from learning by experience. The chiefs are arrogant and tyrannical, and the people servile. The latter rarely go straight towards the end they wish to attain, but seek to compass it by subterfuges and devious methods. Concealment of design is the first element of safety, and as this axiom has been con- sistently carried out for generations, the national cha- racter is strongly marked by duplicit}^ The negro lies habitually ; and even in matters of little moment, or of absolute indifference, it is rare for him to speak the truth. Concurrently with this grows up the habit of concealing resentment of injuries, and the gratification of revenge by the secret and safe agency of poisons. As a result of all these inimical influences the energy of the whole people has degenerated into idleness and sensual enjoyment, and it will take centuries to raise them, for nature exercises a paramount influence on the development of the human being, which is the more powerful the nearer a people is to a natural state, for in civilized communities he gradually learns how to combat it. In all this, however, we see the effect of external conditions, and there is no reason for supposing that the white races had originally a greater mental endowment than the black. If they have succeeded in arriving at higher results in the same period of time, it is only 12 THE EWE-SPEAKING PEOPLES. because they have been more happily situated. But at the present time most Englishmen, especially those who are interested in the promulgation of the different forms of the Christian religion, appear to think that, if that religion is imposed upon the negro, a civilization approximately equivalent to that of Europe will then ensue almost at once as a matter of course. Tbey hold the view that our civilization is the outcome of our religion, whereas the converse is the truth. Moreover, the pagan negro who is, to use the stock phrase, con- verted to Christianity, is not thereby raised to the European moral standard. Moral characteristics trans- mitted by heredity can no t, any more be effaced by a simple change of belief than can physical ; and the con- verted negro invariably and necessarily lowers the new religion to the level of his own mental culture. In any case, however, we are now some 2000 years in advance of tha negro, and that is a gap which cannot be cleared at a bound. Any endeavour to force upon him our artificial conditions of existence must fail, for racial character cannot be suddenly transformed ; and, even if it were possible to impose our civilization upon him, it would not be lasting, for the various transitional stages between his position and ours would have been wanting. Civilization must be gradual in order to be permanent; for it is only as each successive forward step is won that the racial character becomes strengthened, and capable of making a further advance. 13 CHAPTEE 11. EELIGIODS BELIEFS. It is in their religious development that the supe- riority of the Ewe-speaking peoples over the Tshi- speaking peoples is most apparent. In other respects they are mxich on the same level ; but they have undoubtedly taken a step in advance in their concep- tions concerning their gods. On the Gold Coast we found a multitude of village gods, a few tribal gods, and none at all which were worshipped by the Tshi- speaking peoples as a whole ; but amongst the Ewe- speaking peoples we find a different state of affairs,' which may probably be in a great measure due to the greater facilities for the interchange of ideas possessed by those people. Their gods are more concrete. Instead of a thousand different villages possessing each a god, each of whom resembles all the others in general attri- butes and functions, but is believed to be essentially separate and individual, we find on the Slave Coast the same gods, worshipped under the same name, in every town and in every considerable village, represented by images modelled on a common plan, and possessing in every case identical attributes and functions. On the Gold Coast there are no general objects of worship,^ few ^ The gods which I have, in my former work, styled "General Deities," are not worshipped by the whole of the Tshi-speaking tiibes. 14 THE EWE-SPEAKING PEOPLES. tribal, and many local ; while on the Slave Coast, though there are still many local and tribal objects of worship, there are also a great number of gods who are wor- shipped by the Ewe-speaking peoples as a whole. It will hardly be disputed that, as the village community is necessarily antecedent to the tribe, the village god must be an earlier conception than the tribal god. Hence, the possession of a number of general objects of worship by the Ewe-speaking peoples, clearly marks a step made by them in the evolution of religion in advance of the condition in which we found the Tshi-speaking peoples. J It seems that the local gods, as they exist now on the Gold Coast, have been classified on the Slave Coast, and different types produced, which are everywhere recognized and accepted. As each of these gods is represented by a particular kind of image or by parti- cular paraphernalia, a stranger, upon entering a village, sees objects which are familiar to him, and knows to what gods the various shrines are dedicated ; but a native of the Gold Coast, on entering a strange village, would know neither the names nor attributes of the local gods whose shrines he might see. Doubtless this consensus of ideas has been brought about by the priesthood, who are on the Slave Coast possessed of an organization such is as yet unknown on the Gold Coast ; but though the chief objects of worship are thus known and defined, there is still an absolute toleration, and every man is at liberty to worship any one god, or as many as he pleases.* I have already stated the conclusions to which my investigation of the religious notions of the Gold Coast RELIGIOUS BELIEFS. 15 negro brought me ; but as they are scattered here and there throughout the volume on the Tshi-speaking people, it will perhaps be as well to recapitulate them here concisely. Shortly stated, they are as follows— Partly through dreams, and partly through the condition of man during sleep, trances and states of syncope, the Tshi-speaking negro has arrived at the conclusions — 1. That he has a second individuality, an indwelling spirit residing in his body. He calls this a kra. 2, That he himself will, after death, continue his present existence in a ghostly shape. That he will become, in short, the ghost of himself, which he calls a srahman. Now 1 has very frequently been confounded with 2, though they are essentially distinct. The kra existed before the birth of the man, probably as the kra of a long scries of men, and after his death it will equally continue its iudependent career, either by entering a new-born human body, or that of an animal, or by wandering about the world as a sisa, or kra without a tenement. The general idea is that the sisa always seeks to return to a human body and again become a kra, even taking advantage of the temporary absence of a kra from its tenement to usurp its place. Hence it is that any involuntary convulsion, such as a sneeze, which is believed to indicate that the kra is leaving the body, is always followed by wishes of good health. The kra can quit the body it inhabits at will, and return to it again. Usually it only quits it during sleep, and the occurrences dreamed of are believed to be the adventures of the kra during its absence. The srahman, or ghost- 16 THE EWE-SPEAKING PEOPLES. man, only commences his career when the corporeal man dies ; and he simply continues, in the ghost- world or land of dead men, the existence the corporeal man formerly led in the world. There are, therefore, in one sense, three individualities to be considered — (1) The man ; (2) the indwelling spirit, or hra ; (3) the ghost, or srah- man — though in another sense the last is only the continuation of the first in shadowy form. This belief in an indwelling spirit, or " soul," as it is generally termed, though that word is not at all appli- cable, and its use has led to serious misconceptions, is almost universal amongst uncivilized races, and the manner of its origin is now very generally acknowledged. Shortly stated, man arrives at the belief that living men have a second individuality by dreaming about living men, whom he afterwards linds not to have taken part in, or to be conscious of, the occurrences of which he dreamed ; and that dead men continue to exist in their former shapes by dreaming of dead men. The bulk of the evidence yet collected with regard to uncivilized tribes goes to show that, more generally, these two existences appear to be considered as one, and that the shadowy being or ghost which continues in the dead world the existence of the living man, is no other than what was the indwelling spirit or kra of the latter ; but this is far from being universally the case. As Dr. Tylor has shown,^ the Fijians distinguish between a man's " dark spirit " or " shadow," which goes to Dead- land, and his "light spirit," which stays near where he dies ; the Malagasy gay that the saina, or mind, vanishes at death, but that the matoatoa, or ghost, hovers round 1 Primitive Culture, vol. i. p. 434. RELIGIOUS BELIEFS. 17 tlie tomb ; the Algonquins believe that every man has two " souls," one of which abides with the body at death, while the other departs to the land of the dead ; and the Karens distinguish between the " la," or " kelah," which may be defined as the personal life-phantom, and the " thah," which is the soul. The Navajo Indians have a similar belief, for Dr. Washington Matthews says,' — " The suppliant is supposed, through the influence of witchcraft, exercised either in this world or in the lower world when in spirit he was travelling there, to have lost his body or parts thereof — not his visible body, nor yet his soul, his breath of life, for both of these he knows himself to be still in possession of, but a sort of spiritual body which he thinks constitutes a part of himself." These appear to be instances of a belief fairly parallel with that held by the Gold Coast negro, and doubtless a more careful examination will discover many more ; for Europeans, holding as they do, the belief in one " soul " only, are naturally prone to mis- conceive a native's idea of two " souls," unless, which is rarely the case, they are aware that such a belief is known to exist amongst certain peoples. The Tshi-speaking negro does not limit the posses- sion of a ghost, or soul, to man, but extends it to all objects, inanimate as well as animate ; and, acting logically upon this belief, he releases these ghosts, or souls, from their material parts, for the use of ghost-men in Dead-land. At the death of the chief he buries with the corpse, weapons, utensils, food, gold-dust, and cloth, for the use of the ghost-chief ; just as he cuts the throats 1 The Prayer of a Navajo Shaman, p. 19. Eeprinted from tlie American Anthro2>olog>st, vol. i. No. 2, April 1888. c 18 THE EWE-SPEAKING PEOPLES. ' of the chiefs wives and slaves in order that their ghosts or souls may be released from their bodies, and enabled to continue their attendance upon their lord in Dead- land. In this respect his belief is similar to that held by every uncivilized people of the past or present ; but he has gone beyond this, and just as he believes himself to have a second iudividuality, or indwelling spirit, so does he believe every living creature, and every object not made by human hands, to have similarly a second spiritual self, or indwelling spirit. He holds that just as when the man dies, the kra of the man enters a new- born child, and the ghost-man, or soul, goes to Dead- land, so, when the bush is torn up and withers, the hu (so to speak) of the bush enters a seedling bush, or a seed, and the ghost-bush goes to Dead-land. Similarly, the kra (so to speak) of the sheep, when that sheep is killed, enters a new-born lamb, and the ghost-sheep goes to Dead-land for the use of ghost-men ; but whether that ghost-sheep's career definitely termi- nates when it is killed and eaten by ghost-men we do not know : the negro has not pushed inquiry so far as to ask if there is anything beyond. Not only does in Dead-land the ghost-man live in a ghost-house and use the ghosts of such implements, &c. as have been placed at his disposal ; but Dead-land itself, its mountains, forests, and rivers, are, the Tshi- speaking negro holds, the ghosts of similar natural features which formerly existed in the world. The' trees, as they die in the earthly forest, go and join the ranks of the shadowy forest in Dead-land ; and though, the negro has not perhaps witnessed or even heard of the destruction or disappearance of such features as RELIGIOUS BELIEFS. 19 lountains, lakes, or rivers, &c., yet since they are in Dead- nd, as his dreams testify, he decides that they came ) be there by a similar process of destruction or decay. The belief that animals, trees, plants, and inanimate bjects have ghosts is, as' has already been said, uni- ersal amongst uncivilized peoples, who, in this respect, re more logical than the modern European believer in pparitions, who claims a ghost for man, but denies it )r inanimate objects ; though it would be curious to iquire, since ghosts are not usually believed to appear aked, what it is they wear if not the ghosts of clothes, lut while all uncivilized peoples are known to believe tiat inanimate objects have ghosts, it has not, as far as know, been ascertained whether they believe, as does be Tshi-speaking negro, that while they are in existence 1 this world also, such inanimate objects have spiritual idividualities, or, so to speak, Icras. The question does ot seem even to have been referred to in the text-books f Anthropology, and yet there are, beyond doubt, lany different peoples, widely separated, who do hold his view. For instance, Dr. Washington Matthews ays, of the Hidatsa Indians ^— " They worship every- hing in nature. Not man alone, but the sun, the Qoon, the stars, all the lower animals, all trees and )lants, rivers and lakes, many boulders and other eparated rocks, even some hills and buttes which stand ilone- — in short everything not made by human hands, vhich has an independent being, or can be individual- zed, possesses a spirit, or, more properly, a shade. To hese shades some respect or consideration is due, but lot equally to all. For instance, the shade of the 1^ Ethnograjohy of the Hidatsa Indians, p. 48. 20 THE EWE-SPEAKING PEOPLES. cotton-wood, the greatest tree of the upper Missouri Valley, is supposed to possess an intelligence which may, if properly approached, assist them in certain undertakings ; but the shades of shrubs and grasses are of little importance." I venture to think that future investigation will show that most uncivilized peoples hold this belief, and that it has hitherto been over- looked, is, I imagine, due to the kra and the ghost having been confounded together — to the second having been considered the first when finally separated from its tenement. This belief in every animate and inanimate natural object having two individualities besides its tangible one, will perhaps help to explain much that is still obscure as to the origin of Nature Worship. It must be borne in mind that the kra is not the soul, foi the soul, in the accepted sense of the word, is "the animating, separable, surviving entity, the vehicle oj individual personal existence,^ whereas every kra has . been the indwelling spirit of many men, and probably will be of many more. The kra in some respects resembles a guardian spirit, but it is more than that. Its close connection with the man is indicated by the fact of its nocturnal adventures ■during its absence from the body being remembered by that man when he awakes. The latter even feels physically the effect of his kra's actions, and when a negro awakes feeling stiff and unrefreshed, or with limbs aching from muscular rheumatism, he invariably attributes these symptoms to the fact of his kra having been engaged in some struggle with another, or in some , 1 Dr. Tylor. RELIGIOUS BELIEFS. 21 severe toil. If, moreover, a man dreams of other men, he believes that his.^ra has met theirs; consequently the hra is held to have the outward appearance of the man whose body he tenants. Hence the hra is more than a mere tenanting, or guardian, spirit. It has, though doubtless only in a shadowy form, the very shape and appearance of the man, and both the mind and the body of the latter are affected by, and register the results of, the hras actions. The Theory of Animism is divided into two parts — (l) That which treats of the souls of individual creatures, capable of continued existence after the death or de- struction of the body ; and (2) That which treats of spiritual beings, who are held to affect and control man's life and the events of the material world. For the origin of the belief in souls we have the explanation already referred to, namely, that it originated through dreams, and the condition of man during sleep or suspended animation, an explanation which is now very generally accepted. For the origin of the belief in the spiritual beings we have no such satisfactory explan- ation, and I therefore venture to put forward what may be called the hra theory ; which, even if it will not apply to other peoples, will possibly explain how the negroes of the Gold and Slave Coasts of West Africa came to believe in the existence of such beings. ^ The Tshi-speaking negro believes that every natural object or feature has what we may call its hra. Not to multiply instances, rivers and trees, let us say then, have hras. Some day a man falls into a river, and is drowned. The body is recovered, and is found to present no external injury which in the experience of 22 THE EWE-SPEAKING PEOPLES. man would account for death. What then caused tbe death ? asks the negro. Water, alone, is harmless : he drinks it daily, washes in it, uses it for a variety of purposes. He decides, therefore, that water did not cause the death of the man, and having an entity, a spiritual being, ready to hand to whom to attribute the disaster, he concludes that the river's hra, its indwelling spirit, killed the man. This alarms him. If one man ' can be dragged down and killed by the river-spirit, why not another — himself perhaps ? He seeks how to mollify this powerful being, and a worship is established. An- other time a tree falls in the forest and kills a child. How was this ? Trees do not commonly fall down and kill people. On the contrary, they ordinarily stand firm, and even the strongest men cannot uproot them. He follows the same train of thought, and arrives at the same conclusion. Evidently the tree's hra, the tree-spirit, cast down the tree on the child. The tree- spirit must be propitiated ; something must be done to keep it quiet. Whether the notion of a Icra had hither- to been restricted to man, and the negro now extended it to all Nature to account satisfactorily for such acci- dents ; or whether he had already formed the belief that all natural objects and features possessed hras, and such accidents only served to prove to him their malignity and power for evil, the result would be the same. In either case, that form of religion which we term Nature Worship would ensue. The indwelling spirit of a natural feature or object is not, it must be observed, regarded as being inseparably bound up with that object, but can quit it and return at will, just as the hra of the human being can quit the RELIGIOUS BELIEFS. 23 body it tenants. It can wander about, and, at a later stage of belief, can enter the image made to represent it, or the priest, who then becomes inspired; but its ordinary dwelling-place is the natural object or feature of which it is the indwelling spirit. C These are the actual ideas of the Tshi-speaking negroes of the Gold Coast at the present day, and they can also be found in the beliefs of the Ewe-speaking peoples, though there overlaid to a certain extent by ideas of a later growth. Naturally those indwelling spirits which time and experience show to be innocuous are not much regarded ; as with the Hidatsa Indians, "the shades of shrubs and grasses are of little im- portance " ; and in course of time the belief becomes centred on those spirits which are believed to possess the power and the desire to injure. Thus we find, generally speaking, that the objects whose indwelling spirits are worshipped, are such as rivers, lakes, the sea, mountains, &c., localities in which accidents are more likely to occur ; or such phenomena as lightning, storm, and earthquake, which are frequently accompanied by loss of life. Proceeding on the same lines the Ewe- speaking negroes have given pestilences a spiritual individuality, and on the Slave Coast the small-pox is a god who is much dreaded. Possibly, too, in this way,