Naturally enough, the 'Cruits' were fiercely hated by Colonists, Settlers,
and Maroons. Mrs. Melville reports an elderly woman exclaiming, 'Well,
'tis only my wonder that we (settlers) do not rise up in one body and
_kill_ and _slay_, _kill_ and _slay!_ Dem Spanish and Portuguese sailors
were quite right in making slaves. I would do de same myself, suppose I
were in dere place.' 'He is only a liberated!' is a favourite sneer at the
new arrivals; so in the West Indies, by a curious irony of fate,
'Willyfoss nigger' is a term of abuse addressed to a Congo or Guinea
'recaptive.' But here all the tribes are bitterly hostile to one another,
and all combine against the white man. After the fashion of the Gold Coast
they have formed themselves into independent caucuses called 'companies,'
who set aside funds for their own advancement and for the ruin of their
rivals.

The most powerful and influential races are two--the Aku and the Ibo. The
Akus [Footnote: This is a nickname from the national salutation, 'Aku, ku,
ku?' ('How d'ye do?')] or Egbas of Yoruba, the region behind Lagos, the
Eyeos of the old writers, so called from their chief town, 'Oyo,' are
known by their long necklaces of tattoo. They are termed the Jews of
Western Africa; they are perfect in their combination, and they poison
with a remarkable readiness. The system of Egba 'clanship' is a favourite,
sometimes an engrossing, topic for invective with the local press, who
characterise this worst species of 'trades-union,' founded upon
intimidation and something worse, as the 'Aku tyranny' and the 'Aku
Inquisition.' The national proverb speaks the national sentiment clearly
enough: '_Okàn kau lè ase ibi, ikoko li asi ìmolle bi atoju ìmolle taù, ke
atoju ibi pella, bi aba kû ara enni ni isni 'ni'_ ('A man must openly
practise the duties of kinship, even though he may privately belong to a
(secret) club; when he has attended the club he must also attend to the
duties of kinship, because when he dies his kith and kin are those who