Fig. 470.—West African message.
G. W. Bloxam (a) gives the following description of Fig. 470:
It represents a message of peace and good news from the King of Jebu to the King of Lagos, after his restoration to the throne on the 28th of December, 1851. It appears complicated, but the interpretation is simple enough. First we find eight cowries arranged in pairs, and signifying the people in the four corners of the world, and it will be observed that, while three of the pairs are arranged with their faces upwards, the fourth and uppermost, i. e., the pair in the most important position, are facing one another, thus signifying that the correspondents, or the people of Jebu and Lagos, are animated by friendly feeling towards each other; so, too, there are two each of all the other objects, meaning, “you and I,” “we two.” The two large seeds or warres, a, a, express a wish that “you and I” should play together as intimate friends do, at the game of “warre,” in which these seeds are used and which is the common game of the country, holding very much the same position as chess or draughts with us; the two flat seeds, b, b, are seeds of a sweet fruit called “osan,” the name of which is derived from the verb, “san,” to please [Mem. Notice the rebus] they, therefore, indicate a desire on the part of a sender of the message to please and to be pleased; lastly, the two pieces of spice, c, c, signify mutual trust. The following is the full meaning of the hieroglyphic:
Of all the people by which the four corners of the world are inhabited, the Lagos and Jebu people are the nearest.
As “warre” is the common play of the country, so the Jebus and Lagos should always play and be friendly with each other.
Mutual pleasantness is my desire; as it is pleasant with me so may it be pleasant with you.
Deceive me not, because the spice would yield nothing else but a sweet and genuine odor unto god. I shall never deal doubly with you.