Notes on Yoruba and the Colony And

Notes on Yoruba and the Colony and Protectorate of Lagos, West Africa Author(s): Alfred Moloney Source: Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society and Monthly Record of Geography, New Monthly Series, Vol. 12, No. 10 (Oct., 1890), pp. 596-614 Published by: Wiley on behalf of The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1801424 . Accessed: 12/06/2014 15:17 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) and Wiley are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society and Monthly Record of Geography. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 91.229.248.152 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 15:17:15 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 596 NOTES ON YORUBA AND THE COLONY AND Notes on Yoruba and the Colony and Protectorate of Lagos, West Africa. By Sir Alfred Moloney, k.c.m.g., Governor of Lagos. Geographers have continued the name Slave Coast, originally given by the Portuguese, to that portion of West Africa situated between the Volta and Oil rivers. It was only at tho end of the eighteenth century that we obtained any definite knowledge of the grand Niger river which bounds the north and east of this portion of the continent, and only in 1830 were we satisfied that it had no connection with the Nile, Senegal, Gambia, or Congo, but was an independent river that emptied itself into the Bight of Benin on the western side of Africa. This territorial wedge is linguistically divided between the Ewe (Dahomey) and Yoruba or Yarriba-speaking peoples. On the area occupied by the latter I purpose to dwell in this paper. The population of Yoruba has been estimated as 3,000,000 ; its area may be viewed as from 25,000 to 30,000 square miles, or the size of Belgium and Holland together, of which 1069 square miles compose the Colony and Protectorate of Lagos. To this area have been applied generally the names Nago and Yoruba or Yarriba. According to the information given to the Landers, in 1830-1, the northern boundary of Yarriba (the capital of which was Katanga) was the river Moussa (Mussa) which cuts the right bank of the Niger opposite Babba. We read of the people occupying those parts in the middle of the seventeenth century as the powerful Oyos or I-yos ruling to the sea over Benin and Ewe (Dahomey). About 1830 we find the Felatahs or Fulanis from Sokoto crossing the Niger into Yarriba, which they attacked, when they established Alorie (Ilorin), and, to strengthen their position, made it a centre of freedom for runaway slaves. The attitude of Ilorin towards Yoruba is to-day the same. This area is studded with large populous centres, which owe their origin to community of tongue, tribal interests, and the necessity of self-protection. Of these I may mention, with their respective popula? tions, the following:?Lagos, 86,559, Abeokuta, 100,000, Jebu-ode, 60,000, Oru, 10,000, Ibadan, 150,000, Oyo, 80,000, Ogbomoso, 6000, Ejigbo, 40,000, Ilobu, 60,000, Ikirun, 60,000, Otun, 15,000, Ilesha, 40,000, Ede, 50,000, Oshogbo, 60,000, Iwo, 60,000, Ipetumodu, 40,000, Ode Ondo, 60,000, Igbaga, 15,000, Ilorin, 100,000, Isehin, 20,000. As a consequence of this concentration, the open country is sparsely popu? lated, and its agricultural development far from what it should be. Beginning on its western side, the intersecting rivers of the country are the W7hemi (Okpara), the Ajera (with its tributary the Giddy), the This content downloaded from 91.229.248.152 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 15:17:15 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions PROTECTORATEOF LAGOS, WEST AFRICA. 597 Addo (called, for the part above the town of Addo, the Yewa), the Itele, the Ogun, with its main tributaries the Ayan and Opiki, the Odo-ona, the Omi, the Oshun, and the Oni, the Ofara or Ubu river, the Oluva, and the Benin. The Whemi, which is said to originate in the direction of Mehi or Barba, may be viewed as the old geographical boundary between Yoruba and Ewe-speaking peoples; by it Dugba, the landing- place of Abomey, from whence it is distant about 23 miles, can be approached by steamers in the wet season. The area over which the Ewe language is spoken is called Ewemi; hence most probably the name of this river. The Ajera river is important as representing, by the longitude of its mouth, the line of delimitation agreed upon between the French and English territories; it also forms the western boundary of the Pokra district. The Addo or Yewa is a valuable commercial highway through the territories of Okeodan, Haro, Egbado, into the heart of Ketu; it is navigable for steamers of light draught to Addo, some 30 miles from the sea; it could be made navigable to Okeodan and Ajiliti. It is fed from the west near Addo by the Owo. The Ogun, having its source in the highlands beyond Oyo, flows with considerable current by that capital, which is some 150 miles from the coast-line around Abeokuta, and discharges itself into the Kradu water, near Ikoradu, by two mouths, the Ikoradu and Agboyi estuaries. A few miles to the north of Abeokuta it is joined by the Ogon or Ayan from the Sabe country to the north-west. Some 10 miles up the Ayan it is joined by Opeki (or Ofiki). On its right bank, between Abeokuta and the Kradu water, it is fed by the Owiwi, by the Apon, and by the Ilo, via Ota, opposite Isheri. In the dry season the passage of the Ogun is obstructed by banks; in the wet season it is said to be navigable for light draught steamers, even as far as Aro, the landing-place of Abeokuta, which is some 90 miles from Lagos. The Odo-ona, the Omi, the Oshun, and the Oni are rivers of Jebu of which little more than their names is so far known. The opening up of the three first-named would promote much the development of Jebu and the country beyond, whilst the Oni, Ofara, and Oluwa would do likewise for Ondo, Ife, and Ikale. These rivers do not discharge themselves into the sea, but into the channels or lagoons which form an inland waterway accompanying the coast-line. These channels, which form a feature of the Guinea coast, present an interesting study in Physical Geography, and also afford a rich field for the study of their brackish and fresh-water fauna. From their openings into the sea, to a distance of some 30 miles, they are affected by the tide ; beyond, the water is generally deep and fresh; on both sides the land is clothed with rich vegetation, and offers a genial home for tropical growth. The forests which fringe the water- This content downloaded from 91.229.248.152 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 15:17:15 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 598 NOTES ON YORUBA AND THE COLONY AND ways are carpeted here and there with the parasitical Thonningia and are rich in orchids, of which I have been fortunate in securing living specimens for the Royal Gardens, Kew, of many rare and beautiful species, some sweetly scented, some probably new, of the genera Angreecum, Lissocliilus, Polystachya, Bolbophyllum, Megaclinium, Sarcanthus, and others. It may be interesting to remark here that I came across in the Niger delta the mistletoe-like C3Lctxis,Bhipsaliscassytha, found also in Madagascar and generally in tropical Africa. The genus Bhipsalis is said to be the only genus of Cactacese found outside of the New World. Amid the rich vegetation of the lagoon banks are many species of palm-trees, inciuding groves, miles in extent, of Baphia vinifera, the pounded pericarp of which is used in the still waters of narrow creeks to stupefy or poison fish. Other common trees are mangroves, the " accompaniments of brackish water, and a willow-like shrub called salt- bush," from which in the vicinity of Benin, as elsewhere, a native salt is manufactured. The inland border of these long lines of channels and lagoons must, I think, have originally been the sea-coast, and the strips of land that now, sandwich-like, intervene between the sea and the mainland, have to all appearance been formed by the continuous action of the surf caused by the current that crosses the Atlantic from the Gulf Stream, in driving back the debris which is carried down, especially in the floods, by the many intersecting streams and rivers. Such lagoons run along parallel to the sea for hundreds of miles, and connect, with two slight and removable interruptions, the Volta and the Oil rivers; the narrow area they embrace represents the malarial belt, so fatal to Europeans; the further inland therefrom one gets, the more healthy, but perhaps the more hot the country becomes. On the occasion of a recent visit which I paid to the eastern district of the colony, I ascertained personally that with the removal of a few grass islets?an easy matter?a passage by inland waters to the Benin river, a distance of some 160 miles, was not only practicable but easy for steam-launches and probably for larger vessels in course of time.

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