When she got inside she put all the little pieces of the shell together and placed them on her husband’s back, where they grew quite strongly, but the marks showed where the pieces were joined together, and that is why you always find that the shell of a tortoise is covered in patches, and not smooth as it was formerly.—[E.D., 26.5.10.]
Note.
The Inkum people came from a country about five or six days’ march north-west of the site of their present town, where hares abound. There are no hares in the country now occupied by them on the Cross River. This is one of their old stories, which they brought with them when they were driven south by the Awala tribe, and is still handed on from one generation to another.
Told by Abassi, an Inkum boy.—[E.D.]
III.—The Story of Igiri and her husband Inkang, who brought up
a mushroom baby boy, and what became of him.
Chief Inkang of Inkum was married to a woman named Igiri. She was a fine well-made woman, and the chief was so fond of her that he would not have any other wives.
Igiri was quite faithful to her husband, and never went with other men. They lived together for several years without having any children, much to their mutual grief.
Inkang then told his wife to consult the ju-ju man, to see what should be done, in order that she might bear a son who would inherit his father’s property and look after his mother in her old age. The ju-ju man was consulted by Igiri, and the usual sacrifices of fowls and eggs were made, but without any result.
When the time for collecting mushrooms arrived, which is the beginning of the rainy season, about the month of May, Igiri went out with her basket to collect mushrooms for their food, and her husband went with her.
When they arrived at the forest they separated, Igiri going in one direction and Inkang going off in another, but not so far away that they could not hear one another shout.