T OXFORD STUDIES IN AFRICAN AFFAIRS

OLD CALABAR
1600-1891
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mpactjof the international economy

upon a traditional society
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H. LATHAM

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The purpose of this book is to analyse
the response of a traditional African
society to the demands made upon it
by the expanding international economy
from the seventeenth century to the
establishment of Colonial rule. It tries to
obtain insight into the dynamic process of
change • thus the growth of the slave trade
and its successor the trade in palm
produce, with their effects on the
domestic economy, are described in depth
and at length.
Efik society was modified by the
inclusion of the many slaves needed as
extra hands as the people of Old Calabar
turned from fishing to slave trading, and
yet more modifications became necessary
as the palm produce trade developed.
But contrary to the opinion of earlier
writers, the fundamental stability of the
Elik social and political systems was not
affected by these changes so much as
by the ever growing influence of Britain
the major trading partner, which slowly
and unwittingly undermined the
traditional political system, resulting in
anarchy and a demand from certain
sections of Efik society for annexation.
To this the British government reluctantly
acceded for fear that her commercial
rivals in Europe would step in instead,
thereby excluding her merchants at a time
of fierce international competition

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in UK.
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yet more m,
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But contrail
writers, the!
Efik social I
affected by
by the ever
the major tl
and unwittj
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To this the!
acceded fq
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 OXFORD STUDIES IN AFRICAN AFFAIRS

General Editors
JOHN D. HARGREAVES and GEORGE SHEPPERSON

OLD CALABAR 1600-1891

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OLD CALABAR
1600—1891
THE IMPACT OF THE
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMY
UPON A TRADITIONAL SOCIETY

BY

A. J. H. LATHAM

CLARENDON PRESS • OXFORD

1973
 NC
e purpos
: responi 5 IS • 65
ciety to I Oxford University Press, Ely House, London W.l
the exp ■C /«-/
>m the st GLASGOW NEW YORK TORONTO MELBOURNE WELLINGTON

tablishm L CAPE TOWN IBADAN NAIROBI DAR ES SALAAM LUSAKA ADDIS ABABA

DELHI BOMBAY CALCUTTA MADRAS KARACHI LAHORE DACCA

Main msi
KUALA LUMPUR SINGAPORE HONG KONG TOKYO
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lomestic 1 © OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 1973
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Elik socit
affected
by the e\
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and unw
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To this t
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MMIOBLUBR^'-
branch

CALL No

date received........

IN GREAT BRITAIN BY
clay (the chaucer press) ltd.
BUNGAY, SUFFOLK
r

Preface
£ Since Dike’s pioneer study appeared in 1956,1 others such as New­
bury, Jones, Alagoa, Ajayi, Akinjogbin, Ayandele, Ikime, Wilks,
and more recently Rodney, Ryder, and Daaku,3 have advanced our
knowledge of West African history and society in pre-colonial times.
Each has sought to explain the evolution of African societies from the
internal point of view rather than from that of the uncomprehending
external observer. It is hoped this study will fill in another of the
many gaps in our knowledge of particular West African societies.
Accordingly, this is an analysis of a traditional West African
society as it evolved under the influence of the economic demands of
the West, from the arrival of the first Europeans to the establishment
of British rule. It presents Old Calabar and its relationship with the
West not as a static model, but as a dynamic one. As such it attempts
to overcome the limitations of the short-period analyses of anthro­
pology, which do not consider how change takes place within the
system. And it also tries to overcome the weaknesses of historical
studies over long periods of time, which so often fail to understand
the working of the society they describe, and the economic forces
which tend to determine the changes they chart. In so far as Old
Calabar is considered, this is intended to be a contribution to African
history. But in demonstrating how a traditional society was drawn
into the international economy, it is intended to be a contribution to
international economic history.
Early work on Old Calabar was done by Dike,3 but his account is
rather superficial, being based mainly on European sources. Conse­
quently he fails to penetrate the skin of Efik social and political life,
which leads him to misinterpret the slave movements of the 1850s as
revolts to obtain liberation. This error invalidates his over-all con­
clusions about social and political development in the Oil Rivers at
large in the nineteenth century.
The most important work on Efik social and political organization
1 K. O. Dike, Trade and Politics in the Niger Delta (Oxford, 1956).
1 See Bibliography.
3 Dike, op. cit.
3 purpot
: tespon vi PREFACE
:iety to ■
the exp has been done by G. I. Jones.'1 By combining oral tradition with
>m the si European written sources, he has provided a much more perceptive
tablishm understanding of Elik society than did Dike. Yet he has failed to
>tain msi
appreciate the full significance of economic forces upon the evolution
'ange. tl
td its sui of Efik society, and he has not attempted to discuss domestic politics,
reduce, t or the relationship between Calabar and the West.
omestic > More recently Nair has produced a study of politics and society in
nd at len Old Calabar in the late nineteenth century? But there are serious
fik some weaknesses in his work. His failure to consider Calabar earlier than
delusion the nineteenth century leads him to assert that slaves became part
ixtra han
urned fre of Efik society as a result
result of the palm-oil
of the palm-oil trade,
trade, although they had
although they had
yet more actually been incorporated much earlier. Because he does not under­
as the pa stand the Efik political system, particularly the relationship between
But conti the King and the Eyamba, his interpretation of political events lacks
writers, tl
Elik socu epth. His economic information is misleading. And by his determin-
affected a ton to vilify the British as imperial aggressors he blinds himself to
by the ei e ‘ntcrnal political disintegration at Calabar which was such a vital
the main ~,thefpr-ess of imperialism.
and unvt
tradition Efik °f th‘S b°0k is devoted t0 the imPact of tlle s!ave trade 011
anarchy ness ofCletj' AlthouSh this section is quite short, owing to the sparse-
sections has beeevidence f°r this Period>much previously overlooked material
To this I Nicholin’USed’ SUCh as Watts’s description of Calabar in 1668? and
accedec
rivals in informatS V‘Slt1805-’These sources have been combined with new
thereby Calabarmade avaiIable in the Hart Report on the Obong-ship of
of fierce Calabar’196fegher W‘th Oral tradition collected durin8 fieldwork in
at Callbar A11*”5 the elTect of the development of the palm-oil trade
used, such p"’ material that was previously overlooked has been
* G I j0 38 Roberts°n’s Notes on Africa,” a great rarity containing
Trade^f Political Organisation of Old Calabar’, inDaryll Forde (ed.,)
‘ Rivers (London, 1963).
Ibadan Ph.D 5 Pphtics and Society in Old Calabar, 1841-1906’ (University of
‘John Waits?I151967).
“i^rous Murde/e lri!.c Rc,ation of the inhuman and unparalleled Actions, and
<r „ VabarinGi>! of NeSrocs and Moors, committed on three Englishmen in
' 1745), pp &c.’, in Harleian Collection of Voyages and Travels, vol. 11
19*a' ^ords of the African Association 1788-1831 (Nelson,
Ca/o6ar On.Jt, Enqii.ry jlM lhe Dispute over the Obongship of
' A- RobertSOncu®cnt No. 17 of 1964, Enugu.
n’ Notes on Africa (London, 1819).
 PREFACE vii
vital economic information on the early years of the oil trade. Use
has also been made of personally discovered manuscript material,
particularly the Revd. William Anderson’s Journal for 1851-2,
crucial years in Efik social history, and the Black Davis Papers,
which belong to the family of one of the important Efik slaves of the
last century. Oral evidence has also been used. Because so much more
material is available, this section is much longer than the first, despite
determined compression.
In writing this book I am indebted to A. G. Hopkins and G. I.
Jones for their detailed criticism, and to the late R. E. Bradbury for
his correspondence. I am also indebted to the Leverhulme Trust, who
granted me an Overseas Scholarship which enabled me to spend a
year in Nigeria (1965-6) on fieldwork and research.
A.J.H.L.
January 1971
 Contents

LIST OF MAPS xi
LIST OF GRAPHS xi
LIST OF TABLES xi
LIST OF CHARTS xii
ABBREVIATIONS xiii

1. INTRODUCTION: THE CROSS RIVER BASIN AND

THE EFIK BEFORE THE ARRIVAL OF THE EURO­
PEANS
1. Geography 1
2. The people 3
3. The economy 5
4. The Efik 9

PART 1
THE ERA OF THE SLAVE TRADE

2. THE SLAVE TRADE AT OLD CALABAR

1. The rise and fall of the external slave trade 17
2. Exports 22
3. Imports 24
4. The effects of external trade on the domestic economy 24
5. The internal slave trade 25

3. THE SLAVE TRADE AND EFIK SOCIAL HISTORY

1. The incorporation of slaves into Efik society 31
2. Development of the house or ward 33
3. The forces which united Efik society 34

4. THE SLAVE TRADE AND EFIK POLITICAL HISTORY

1. Efik political offices 42
2. The changing location of political offices 43
3. Personalities and politics 45
4. Efik subjection of other Cross River peoples 49
1
po CONTENTS
ion x
to PART 2
exp TRADE
ie s THE ERA OF THE PALM-OIL
ishn
i ms 5. THE PALM-OIL TRADE AT’ OLD OLD CALABAR
55
je-.t external palm-oil trade
1. The rise and development of the e\v------ 65
ts su 73
uce.' 2. Exports
estic 3. Imports 75
at ler 4. The effect of external trade on the domestic economy 79
socie 5. The internal palm-oil trade
iiision HISTORY
,a han 6. THE OIL TRADE AND EFIK SOCIAL 91
ned tn 1. The expansion of the agricultural slaves 96
x more 2. The upward mobility of the urban trading slaves 102
,the pa
pt conf 3. The Mission 105
.nters.t 4. The liberated Africans 109
fik soci 5. The European traders
,ff acted
POLITICAL history
pY <he e' THE OIL TRADE AND EFIK 113
tne maic 1. Inter-ward political rivalry 123
and unv
tradition 2- Political disintegration 134
anarchy 3. Anglo-Efik relations 146
sections Conclusion 149
To this Epilogue 1891-1971
accedec
rivals in APPENDICES _ 151
thereby L Palm Oil Exports from Old Calabar, 1812-18 152
of fierci 2. Palm Kernel Exports from Old Calabar, 1869 1 Q^ar,
3. List of Treaties and Official Letters signed by th 153
1842-1862 Town chiefs,
4. List of Treaties and Agreements signed by 162
1875-1884
166
SOURCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
179
INDEX
 List of Maps

‘Old Callebar River’ c. 1820x frontispiece

1. The Cross River basin xiv
2. Major soil areas 2
3. Cross River people 4
4. Land use 6
5. Cross River economy 8
6. Palm belt with main oil markets 87

List of Graphs

1. Ships from Liverpool to Africa, 1709-1807 19

2. Palm oil exports from Old Calabar, 1812-1887 66
3. Palm kernel exports from Old Calabar, 1869-1887 68
4. Buying prices for palm oil, London, 1844-1891 70

List of Tables

1. Captains known to have been in Old Calabar, 1785-1787 20

2. Slaves exported in Liverpool ships from New Calabar, Bonny,
and Old Calabar, 1752-1799 21
3. Palm oil imported to Liverpool, 1772-1787 56
4. Palm oil imported into U.K. from West Africa, 1790-1853,
to the nearest ton 57
5. The value of the copper rod, 1805-1910 77
6. The value of the black copper wire, 1846-1910 78

1 Source: Edward Bold, The Merchants' and Mariners' African Guide (London
1822).
urt
sspt
ty t
te e
the
blist
nn il
nge List of Charts
i its t
duct 10
mesti 1. Efik structural genealogy
d atl 11
2. Old Town Kings
ik sot 12
3. Heads of Efiom Ekpo lineage (to 1805)
clusiC 37
dra h. 4. Eyamba title-holders in Ekpe
5. Genealogy of Efik Oboags, 1600-1891 44
irned
et mo 6. Analysis of Efik signatories to Treaties and official letters, 1842-
is the 1862 98
Jut co 7. Duke Town signatories of Treaties and Agreements, 1875-1884 101
writers
Efik so 8. Political divisions of Old Calabar c. 1850 114
aflecte 9. Genealogy of Eyamba title-holders in Eyamba ward 116
by the 10. Genealogy of Creek Town Obongs 117
the mi
and u'
traditi
anarcl
sectio
To th’
accec
rivals
there
of be
 Abbreviations

Calprof Calabar Provincial Papers

cit. citing
E.H.R. Economic History Review
I. R. Intelligence Report
J. A.H. Journal of African History
J.H.S.N. Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria
J.R.A.I. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute
J.R.G.S. Journal of the Royal Geographical Society
P.P. Parliamentary Papers
P.R.G.S. Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society
UPCMR United Presbyterian Church Missionary Record

References in the form of a name and date denote interviews.

Map 1: The Cross River Basin
 CHAPTER 1

Introduction: The Cross River basin and

the Efik before the arrival of the Europeans

1. Geography
The Cross River rises in the Cameroons Mountains and flows north­
west until it meets the Anyim River (Map 1). There it turns south­
west towards Enyong Creek, from where it flows south-east to the
sea. Leaving the forested and hill area near the Cameroons, the river
passes through a gently undulating savannah plain until its conflu­
ence with Enyong Creek. Then it continues through the forested
coastal plain which extends west to the Niger Delta. The annual
rainfall in the Cross River basin varies from about 60 inches in the
north to 150 inches on the coast. To the north the wet season begins
in March and ends in October, but on the coast the rains are from
February to November. Temperatures are fairly constant throughout
the year, varying according to season between 94 °F. and 71 °F. In
the rainy season the winds come mainly from the south-west, and the
skies are clouded, with mists common in the morning, and thunder­
storms often occurring in the afternoon and evening. During the dry
season, the winds come from the east or north-east. They are rela­
tively dry, causing cloudless but hazy weather, when visibility may
be reduced to half a mile.
In the north the soil is derived from shale, and is mostly gently
sloping and poorly drained (Map 2). It is capable of producing large
quantities of yams, cassava, maize, and legumes, and if carefully
managed it can be kept in production for many years. Following the
river from its junction with the Anyim, to beyond Enyong Creek,
lie nearly-level, deep, loamy alluvial soils. Surface drainage is
necessary for grain crops, yams, or cassava, and areas flooded during
the rainy season are not cultivated. West of Enyong Creek is an area
of red, sandy, permeable soil, derived from thick sandy deposits.
These retain little water or plant nutrients, but oil palm and banana
can be grown, with some cassava, yam, and other vegetables. East
of the confluence of Enyong Creek and the Cross River is a large area
ul
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in
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iu<
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s<
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rnec
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; the
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and i
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I'
 THE PEOPLE 3
of sloping sandy soils derived from weathered crystalline rocks.
Forest covers most of this area, which is largely unsuited for crops.
To the south is an area of yellow, sandy, and permeable soil, on which
oil palm, bananas, maize, and vegetables are grown. Lastly there
are the swampy alluvial soils around the Cross River estuary, which
are mainly covered in mangrove.1

2. The People
Although the people who now inhabit the region arrived at
different times, the main settlement pattern was almost certainly
established before the end of the sixteenth century (Map 3). To the
north and north-west of the Cross River the people are Ibo. G. I.
Jones suggests that they are descended from Ibo groups which came
from the west at an indeterminate date. Some of these groups say they
were later driven north by ‘white-eyed dwarfs armed with blunder­
busses’. These people are principally farmers, and yams their most
important crop.2 The Aro are a sub-tribe of specialist traders, whose
trading activities derived from their contacts gained through their
possession of the Long Juju of Arochuku, famed in the eighteenth
and nineteenth centuries throughout the area and beyond, as an
oracle and fertility spirit.3 To the west and south-west of the river are
the Ibibio. They have no tradition of migration from any other place,
which suggests they have long been settled where they now live.
Palm products are the basis of their economy, but the Uruan, who
live on Ikpa Creek, are specialist fishermen who make their catches
in the Cross River estuary.4 In the late sixteenth century a dispersal
movement occurred from the Uruan area, some people moving north
to form the Enyong tribe, and others moving south where they
founded fishing communities on the lower Cross River,5 the Effiat
and Efik being part of this movement.” East of the Cross River,
where the Efik settled, the population is sparse. Spread widely to the
1 J. E. Christiansen, C. L. Scrivner, F. C. Jones, F. R. Olive, ‘Preliminary
Survey of the Cross River Drainage Basin of Eastern Nigeria’, Ford Foundation
and USAID, Enugu, 12 January 1963 (unpublished).
2 Daryll Forde and G. I. Jones, The Ibo and Ibibio-Speaking peoples of South-
Eastern Nigeria (London, 1962), p. 52.
2 Ibid. pp. 55-6.
4 Ibid., p. 68. Enugu I.R. 120 EP 9303A, Uruan Clan, Uyo District, Calabar
Province, 1932, Capt. H. P. James, D.O., p. 3, para. 9.
1 Jones, Trading States, p. 31. Ibadan I.R. 31382, Enyong Clan, Aro District,
Calabar Province, 1935, N.A.P.G. Mackenzie, A.D.O., p. 2, para. 4.
’ Forde and Jones, pp. 89-90.
B
 put
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iety
the 1
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ablis
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ange
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id at
fik so
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But c<
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and 1
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To th
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Map 3. Cross River people

ri
 THE ECONOMY 5
north are the Ekoi, and other smaller groups such as the Umon and
Akunakuna, whose origins are obscure. To the south-east arc the
Okoyong,’ and still further south, the Qua who arc an Ekoi group,"
and the Efut, who migrated from the Cameroons.” Most of these
people are hunters and subsistence farmers.

3. The Economy
■ The population settled on the most fertile land, which is reflected
by the proportion of land now in cultivation in the various areas
(Map 4). While overall the soils are of low fertility, in the north-west,
an estimated 11 per cent of the land is under cultivation, a much
higher proportion than elsewhere. West of Enyong creek about 7 per
cent of the land is cultivated, but even this is higher than east of the
river, where in the north only 4 per cent is tilled, and in the south­
east only 1 per cent.10
Resulting from the distribution of fertile soil, the traditional econ­
omy of the Cross River basin is as old as the settlement of its people
(Map 5). Essentially the pattern was one of the interchange of yam,
from the fertile Ibo areas of the north, for the palm produce of
Ibibioland, and the fish and salt from the coast. This was facilitated
by the ease of canoe movement along the Cross River and its in­
numerable tributaries. Even in modern times this pattern of exchange
has not altered,11 except that salt is now imported rather than made
by evaporation of sea water.
Most of the yams came from Afikpo and Abakaliki. There the
people are excellent farmers, and the Ezzas even use fertilizer made
up of leaves, crop remains, the manure of their sheep, goats, and
cattle, and night-soil.12 Yams also came from Obubra in plentiful
years.12 The yams were carried by canoe down the Cross River to the
Ibibio and Efik markets such as Itu, Ikorofiong, Ifiayong, Ikpa, and
7 Ibadan I.R. 27674, Okoyong Clan, of Calabar Division, Calabar Province,
1933, T. M. Shankland, A.D.O.
• H.R.H. Chief the Hon. Ika Ika Oqua II, M.H.C., M.O.N., The Ntoe of Big
Qua Town, 18 Nov. 1965.
• Chief E. Edem, ‘A Brief History of Efut People’ (unpublished manuscript,
Calabar, 1947).
10 Christiansen, Scrivncr, Jones, and Olive, pp. 32-4.
11 Anne Martin, The Oil Palm Economy of the Ibibio Farmer (Ibadan, 1956),
p. 15. Forde and Jones, p. 81.
la J. W. Wallace, ‘Agriculture in Abakaliki and Afikpo*, Farm and Fore
2 (1941), 90-1.
11 C. Partridge, Cross River Natives (London, 1905), pp. 109-10.
Map: 4 Land use. Figures indicate proportion of land under crops
 THE ECONOMY 7
Calabar.11 From there, other traders took them to the small inland
local markets. As the Ibibio could only grow about half a year’s
supply for themselves, they were, like the Efik, very dependent upon
these imported yams.15 Oil palms are abundant in Ibibioland, and
palm products the basis of their economy. Oil was exported both up­
river to the specialist yam areas, and down-river to Calabar.10 In
return for the oil and yam carried down to the communities living
on the Cross River estuary, these people sent fish, shrimps, prawn,
and salt, to the inland markets, where they were distributed on foot
to the local markets by petty traders, as with the yam from the
north.17 At the end of the seventeenth century, Barbot observed these
coastal fishing and salt-boiling communities,18 and as late as 1805
salt was being boiled there.19
Within this basic distribution network, nineteenth-century evidence
suggests particular places specialized in producing certain durable
goods. Pottery was made at Afikpo,20 Ikorofiong,21 Nkpara,22 and
Ikot Ansa.23 Canoes were made at Emuramura,21 and raffia cloth at
Ikorofiong.25 Metal-working was done by itinerant Ibo blacksmiths,20
using iron which probably came from the Cameroons.27 To the east
of the Cross River there was little of importance, for the people were
largely self-sufficient, although the Qua did obtain some salt from
Mamfe.28
14 Forde and Jones, p. 81. « Ibid. Martin, p. 15.
17 M. D. W. Jeffreys, ‘Cross River Prawn and Shrimp Fishing', Nigerian Field
(July 1952), 139-40. Enugu I.R. 120 EP 93O3A, Uruan Clan, p. 3, para. 9.
18 J. Barbot, A Collection of Voyages and Travels, vol. v. A Description of the
Coasts ofNorth and South Guinea (London, 1732), p. 382.
10 Robin Hallett (cd.), Records of the African Association, 1788-1831 (London,
1964), p. 197.
50 S. and P. Ottenburg, 'Afikpo Markets’, in P. Bohannan and G. Dalton
(edd.), Markets in Africa (North Western University Press, Evanston, 1962),
p. 121. Chief Ene Ndem Ephraim Duke, 22 Nov. 1965.
51 UPCMR 14 (Aug. 1859), 153, cit. Baillie, 12 Feb. 1859.
22 Rcvd. H. M. Waddell, Journal, vol. 7, p. 44, 24 Nov. 1849, vol. 10, p. 55,
12 Jan. 1855.
23 Chief Ene Ndem Ephraim Duke, 22 Nov. 1965.
21 Revd. Goldie, H. Calabar and its Mission (Edinburgh and London, 1901),
p. 340. UPCMR N.s. 2 (1 Nov. 1881), 371, cit. Edgerley. Ibid., N.s. 6 (Sept. 1885),
301, cit. Goldie, 13 Nov. 1884.
28 UPCMR 14 (Aug. 1859), 153-4, cit. Baillie, 12 Feb. 1859.
20 Jones, Trading States, p. 13. Waddell, Journal, vol. 8, p. 77, 22 Mar. 1851.
Coulthurst to Nicolls, in Nicolls to Hay, 29 Mar. 1832, CO 82/5.
27 Rcvd. H. M. Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years in the West Indies and Central
Africa (London, 1863), p. 326.
28 The Ntoc of Big Qua Town, 18 Nov. 1965.
 I

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1Ver economy
 THE EFIK 9
4. The Efik
Such was the environment within which the Efik, the subject of
this study, dwelt. Now their origins, social and political structure,
and economic life, prior to the arrival of the Europeans, must be
analysed.
Originally the Efik lived at Uruan in Ibibioland,22 and as the Uruan
still do,30 they fished the Cross River estuary,31 selling their catch at
the up-river markets. But late in the sixteenth century they left Uruan
after a disturbance,32 and after settling temporarily at Ikpa Ene,33 an
island in the Cross River, and then at Ndodoghi,31 on the eastern
bank, they finally established themselves at Ikot Etunko, now known
as Creek Town.35 Verbal tradition appears to hold that there were
five founding fathers who settled at Creek Town with their wives
and families.30 As can be seen from Chart 1, four of the founders
were closely related, for Eyo Ema was uncle of the three brothers
Oku Atai, Ukpong Atai, and Adim Atai, all being descended from a
common ancestor, Ema.37 Oku was the eldest brother, but Ukpong
and Adim shared a different mother.38 The fifth founding father was
Efiom Ekpo, who was unrelated to the others,32 and may have been
an Ibibio who sided with the Efik in their dispute at Uruan.40
Not long after the establishment of Creek Town, about the
beginning of the seventeenth century,41 a dispute apparently led to
the departure of the Ukpong and Adim Atai groups, who established
themselves at Obutong, now Old Town. About the same time,
Efiom Ekpo died, and his eldest son Nsa Efiom became head of the
lineage.42 Then Efiom Ekpo’s daughter, Okoho, bore twins43 to an
Efut man.44 It was customary for the secret society to kill twins,45
20 A. K. Hart, Report of the Enquiry into the dispute over the Obongship of
Calabar, Official Document No. 17, Enugu, 1964, p. 27, para. 69, p. 29, para. 79,
p. 31, para. 87.
30 Forde andJoncs.p.81.Enugu I.R. 120EP9303A,Uruan Clanp. 5, para. 18.
31 Hart, para. 105. The Ntoe of Big Qua Town, 18 Nov. 1965.
33 Hart, paras. 69, 81, 87. 33 Ibid., paras. 65, 69, 82, 89.
31 Ibid., paras. 66, 67, 82, 89. 35 Ibid., paras. 82-3, 87.
33 Ibid., paras. 83, 90.
37 Ibid., paras. 121-6. G. I. Jones, ‘The Political Organisation of Old Calabar’,
in Efik Traders of Old Calabar, p. 159.
33 Hart, para. 90.
33 Ibid., paras. 71, 85, 90, 98, 127. Jones, ‘Political Organisation’, p. 159.
43 Hart, para. 81. 41 See below, p. 12.
" Hart, paras. 68, 73, 85, 90, 100. 43 Ibid., paras. 71, 85, 98.
44 Chief Ekpc Asuquo Ene Ekpo Basscy Edem, 26 Feb. 1966.
46 Hart, paras. 71, 101. Forde and Jones, p. 77.
J
PI 10 INTRODUCTION
6!
et and Okoho’s predicament was made worse by the fact that they were
he illegitimate. But Edem Efiom, her second eldest brother, arranged
11 for her to be taken to Nsutana, an island in the Cross River.46 There
ibl the boys grew up, and in the second or third decades of the seven­
air
’•<
teenth century,47 founded Atakpa, now Duke Town.48
f n To date the arrival of the Efik at Calabar is not an easy matter.
However their oral traditions, and those of their neighbours, the Qua
I-; and Efut, indicate that the Efik arrived in Calabar before trade with
d ?
ik < Chart 1
cld
:• i EfilcJStructural Genealogy
irne Ema Efiom ^Ekpo
et n
s th Eyo Ema Atai Ema Nsa Efiom Edcm Efiom Okoho
Jut (Cobham) 1 (Henshaw) (Ntiero)
vntt
Efik Oku Atai Ukpong Atai Adim Atai
iffei
(Ambo)
(Obutong)
□y t Ofiong^Okoho Efiom Okoho
the (Eyam ba) (Duke, Archibong,
and Etim Efiom)
irad
ana Duke"Town11 ^t'10ugh it has been suggested that Old Town and
sec this is improbaH6 f°unded in response to the European trade,50
To
ace the Efik to settl °r Qua and E^ut woldd Ee unlikely to allow
rive which they would h land t0 ParticiPate in the Eur°pean trade,
the Efik had to pay k6 wanted to keep to themselves. As it was, the
of land, until at le n°Ute to the Qua for the privilege of living on their
must have arrived* earIy nineteenth century.51 Hence the Efik
century, for as w l|1? Calabar before the middle of the seventeenth
not begin until th °6 S'10Wn *n Chapter 2, the European trade did
In the absence of a k
can throw further ]’ rchae°l°gical evidence,52 the only sources which
With other peoples'8^ °n tde date settlement are the genealogies.
U Hart genealogies can be misleading, because insignifi-
«^*>P7t285- 98-

1 wld2;.Chicr Asuann I?Wn’ 18 Nov. 1965- chief E- Ekpenyong, M.B.E.,

“ Halt.. ’ Twe"‘y-Ni? £Ldct Okon. 25 Nov. 1965. Edem. Hart, paras. 104-5.

re “Hid be a„ • and> has been uninhabited ever since the Efik left,
” ‘nteresting site.
 THE EFIK 11
cant men are forgotten. But this is unlikely in the case of the Efik,
as the father’s first name becomes the son’s second name. Conse­
quently any omission would be easily detected. The striking point
about Efik genealogies and chief lists is their shortness. At Bonny and
Kalahari, where settlement took place as early as the late fifteenth
century,53 the lists are much longer.61 The obvious implication is that
by comparison with Bonny and Kalabar, the date of Efik settlement
is more recent.
Old Town was established by one of the founding fathers of Creek
Town, Ukpong Atai, together with his brother Adim.65 Chart 2
shows that there were only seven kings of Old Town, representing six
generations, the last being Willy Tom Robins who died in 1854.50
The fifth king, also known as Willy Tom Robins, was reigning 1786—
8,67 and the fourth, Ephraim Robin John in 1767.68 Even if the first
Chart 2
Old Town Kings
1. Ukpong Atai
2. Oso Ukpong
3. Akabom Oso
4. Efiom Otu Ekon (Ephraim Robin John) c. 1767
5. Eso Asibon (Willy Tom Robins) c. 1786-8
6. Ekpenyong Etim Asiya
7. Asibon Eso (Willy Tom Robins) Died 1854
Genealogy
1. Ukpong Atai
I
2. Oso Ukpong
I
3. Akabom Oso
I
Asibon Akabom (not king)
I
5. Eso Asibon
I
7. Asibon Eso
Sources: Etubom A. E. Archibong, Chief Antigha Efefiom,
Chief Efiom Obo Efanga, Chief Etim Otu Bassey,
Chief Otu Otu Efiom, Chief Oku Efiom Asiya, 14 Feb 1966.
63 Jones, Trading States, pp. 29-35. 64 Ibid., p. 26.
60 Sec p. 9 above. 50 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 550.
67 Antcra Duke, ‘The Diary of Antera Duke’ in Forde, Efik Traders, p. 47,
19 July 1786, p. 59, 16 Sept. 1787, p. 64, 17 Jan. 1788.
58 Gomer Williams, History of the Liverpool Privateers and Letters of Marque
(London and Liverpool, 1897), p. 536.
12 INTRODUCTION
four kings ruled for thirty years each, which is unlikely, Old Town
must have been founded after 1600. This date is supported by the
few generations recorded as heads of Efiom Ekpo lineage, indicated
on Chart 3. Ekpenyong Ofiong was head in 1805, although he was
then old.59 Edem Ekpo, the seventh head, died in 1786.00 If each of
the seven heads ruled for thirty years, then Efiom Ekpo must have
founded Creek Town at the earliest in the last quarter of the sixteenth
century. But it is unlikely that the average period of rule was thirty
years, as only five generations were involved, and two of the heads
were twin brothers. So Creek Town was probably founded about the
end of the sixteenth century, Old Town early in the seventeenth, and
Duke Town, the last settlement, in the second or third decade of the
seventeenth century.
Chart 3
Heads of Efiom Ekpo Lineage (to 1805}

I. Efiom Ekpo
2. Nsa Efiom Edem Okoho
I
3. Ekpo Nsa 4 Ofiong Okoho 5. Efiom Okoho
I -
.8. Ekpenyong Ofiong 6. Ekpo Efiom
7. Edem Ekpo
Sources: Chief Enc Ndem Ephraim Duke, 4 Dec. 1965, 9 Dec. 1965;
Chief Joseph Henshaw, 6 Dec. 1965, 8 Feb. 1966;
Chief Michael Henshaw, 18 Nov. 1965.

Because the Efik had lived so long in Uruan, it is reasonable to

assume that the main outlines of Efik culture, and social and political
organization, were similar to those of the Uruan Ibibio. Certainly
their language was Ibibio.01 In Ibibio society, the smallest social unit
was the iiiip consisting of a man with his wives and children. Several
idips together made up a compound, known as an ufok, and a group
of ufoks made up the extended family, or ekpuk, which has been
described as ‘a group of patrilineal relatives tracing descent from a
single male ancestor’.02 A village was composed of several ekpuks.
■' Hallett, p. 199.
“ Duke, ‘Diary’, p. 46, 4 July 1786.
“ Forde and Jones, p. 90.
«Ibid., p. 72.
 THE EFIK 13
Although each ekpuk was self-governing under the authority of the
ete ekpuk or lineage head, they were bound together in the village
group by their common religion, secret society, and village council.
Religion was supervised by a chief priest or oku ndem, who was
responsible to the tutelary deity or ndem. This office usually
descended in a particular ekpuk. The functions of the secret society
to which the menfolk belonged are not fully understood because of
their very secrecy, but the society appears to have had a judicial role.
The village council dealt with secular matters concerning the village
as a whole, including external relations, and was composed of repre­
sentatives of each ekpuk, under the chairmanship of the village head
or obong isong. Decisions were taken by the council as a whole, and
the obong isong could not take decisions by himself.03
It appears that the Efik were organized in a similar fashion in the
early years of their settlement at Creek Town. There were two basic
lineage groups, the Emas and the Ekpos. There was a common
tutelary deity, the Ndem Efik, whose priest was Eyo Ema, from whom
all subsequent priests are directly descended.01 There was a secret
society called Nyana Yaku.K And there was a secular figure of
authority, presumably the obong isong.00
If settlement at Calabar did not at first affect Efik social organ­
ization, neither did it alter their economic life. For they continued to
be specialist fishermen07 as they had been at Uruan, selling their
catches at the up-river markets in exchange for yam and palm oil.
But the arrival of the Europeans in the middle of the century was
radically to change all this.
13 Forde and Jones, pp. 71-5.
63 Hart, para. 200.
“ Ibid., paras. 81, 101, 176.
60 Ibid., para. 98.
•’ Ibid., pp. 34-5, paras. 104-5.
 PART 1

The Era of the Slave Trade

I
 CHAPTER 2
The Slave Trade at Old Calabar
1. The rise andfall of the external slave trade
The arrival of the first European traders at Old Calabar cannot be
dated exactly,1 and although the Portuguese may have known of the
Cross River, it is unlikely that they traded there before the middle
of the seventeenth century. For Pieter De Marees, writing about
1600, advised traders to ignore all the rivers of what is now called the
Bight of Biafra, because there was nothing to be gained there, and
there was a danger of being stranded.2 Moreover, Ardener has recently
drawn attention to Leers’s 1665 edition of Leo Africanus, in which
an addition to the text states that a great reef prevented entry to the
Old Calabar river.3 But trade had begun with Calabar by 1668, for
John Watts, an English sailor, recounted how in that year the Peach
Tree of London ‘sailed to old Calabar, in the bay of Guiney', where
she ‘entered a river called the Cross river into Paratt island’.1 She took
on a load of slaves, which proves the trade was already established.
But the fact that Watts, having been kidnapped by the inhabitants,
could not escape for several months, until another ship arrived,
suggests the trade was not very regular.6
However, English ships continued to visit Old Calabar, for in 1672
it was said that ‘many ships are sent to trade at New and Old Calabar
for slaves and teeth (ivory tusks)’.6 Captain Reckord of the James
took such a cargo in 1675-6,’ and John Elliot of the Welcome arrived
at Barbadoes with 210 negroes from Old Calabar in February 1679.8
1 E. E. Afigbo, ‘Efik Origin and Migrations Reconsidered’, Nigeria, 87 (Dec.
1965), 275-7.
3 Pieter De Marecs, Description et Recit du Riche Royattme D'or de Gunea
(Amsterdam, 1605), p. 93. J. Bouchaud, ‘Les Portuguais dans la Baie de Biafra au
xvieme siecle’, Africa, 16 (1946), 220.
3 Edwin Ardener, ‘Documentary and Linguistic Evidence for the Rise of the
Trading Polities between Rio del Rey and Cameroons, 1500-1650’, in I. M.
Lewis (ed.), History and Social Anthropology (London, 1968), p. 106.
4 Harleian Collection, ii, 512.
3 Harleian Collection, ii. 512-15.
3 Elizabeth Donnan, Documents Illustrative ofthe History of the Slave Trade to
America (Washington, 1930), i. 193.
’ Ibid. i. 205.
• Ibid. i. 243.
18 THE ERA OF THE SLAVE TRADE
In January the following year Captain Andrew Branfill made landfall
at Jamaica, with 278 slaves, also from Old Calabar.9 So greatly did
the slave trade expand in the next twenty years that in 1700 it was
complained that ‘there is so many Ships gone to Old Callebarr that
you cann have no trade there’.10 The Dutch traded occasionally at
Old Calabar at this time,11 and probably the Portuguese as well.12
Indeed, it can be said that the development of the slave trade at
Old Calabar during the last half of the seventeenth century reflected
the changes that were taking place in the pattern of trade along the
West African Coast. For everywhere the Portuguese dominance was
being challenged by the French, Dutch, and English, and new areas
of supply such as Old Calabar were being tapped, as demand for
slaves for the ‘sugar revolution’ in the Caribbean outstripped supply.13
But it was the eighteenth century which saw the spectacular rise in
slave exports from the Bight of Biafra in general, particularly after
1730. Curtin estimates that total exports per decade from this region
rose from 4,500 in 1721-30, to 139,300 in 1761-70, and 137,600 in
1791-1800, a total of 823,700 being exported between 1711 and
1810.11 In this period the English emerged as the leading traders on
the West African coast, after several Anglo-French wars.15 However,
London’s share of the trade declined as a consequence of the South
Sea Bubble, leaving Bristol as the principal English slaving port.13
These changes affected the ships coming to Old Calabar, for at an
incident in 1767 there were only English ships in the river, four from
Bristol, one from London, and one from Liverpool.1’ But as Graph 1
makes clear, Liverpool was of growing importance as a slaving port.
Between 1795 and 1804, 1,099 ships left Liverpool for West Africa,
but only 155 frOm London, and 29 from Bristol.18 At Calabar,
Liverpool certainly appears to have been predominant, for as Table 1
shows, of the 24 captains named by Antera Duke in his Diary for
1785-7, at least 13 were Liverpool men.
Yet, although the late years of the eighteenth century and the early
’ Ibid. i. 255. M Ibid. iv. 82.
1S Barbot, p. 383. >= Ibid. p. 465.
p Faec’ A History of West Africa (Cambridge, 1969), pp. 65-70.
P. D. Curtin, The Atlantic Slave Trade: A Census (Madison, Milwaukee, and
London, 1969) pp. 116-26.
„ E0111". P- 221. is Fage, pp. 70-80.
the History of Liverpool from the earliest authenticated period down to the
" w n™ (LivcrPoo>. 1810), p. 111.
P- 53<L
■“‘d., Appendix xi, p. 680.
 THE SLAVE TRADE AT OLD CALABAR 19
150 r

140 -

130 -

120 - rd
110 -

100 -

90 -

80 -

70 -

60 -

50 -
J
40 -

30 -
1
20 -

10 -

O1
(09) 1730 40
J
-------------------------
50 60 70 HO 90 1800 8
Graph 1: Ships from Liverpool to Africa 1709-1807
Source: Williams, op. cit. Appendix, p. 678.
years of the nineteenth century marked the apogee of the slave trade,1’
a contemporary observer, Captain John Adams, stated that Old
Calabar became less popular as a slaving port in these years, because
10 Curtin, p. 266, Fig. 26.
c
 THE ERA OF THE SLAVE TRADE
20
Table 1
Captains known to have been in Old Calabar 1785-1787

Liverpool Captains Others

Aspinal Brivon
Brighousc Brown
Combesboch Collins
Tom Cooper John Cooper
Fairweather Hewitt
Ford Loosdam
Hughes Morgan
Johnston Opter
Overton Osatam
Potter Rogers
Savage Williams
Small
Tatam
total 13 total 11
Note: The list of captains is taken from Antera Duke’s Diary It is not a complete
1 list, for many Liverpool men who sailed for Calabar according to the Holt and
457 ^65-7a«3’ 481 J"* mCnti°nCd' Sec Holt and Gregson Papers, vol. x, nos.
V
1
r port dues (or ‘comey’) were £250 compared to £150 at Bonny.20
rt
ir There may be some truth in this, for in 1762 a Liverpool Captain
about to sad for Old Calabar was instructed by his merchants to
use your utmost endeavour to keep down the Comeys which in
at
ri
it
o

considerably more. ano in uic

When Britain made the slave trade illeRal in 1808 the trade con­
tinued unabated, and at Old Cal k c°al in 1808, tne uw
absence of British ships was snnAnr ^'e vacuum created by t e
particularly the French, Spanish n ed by those of other nations,
October 1820 and July 1821 16o’ ortu8uese, and Dutch.23 Between
,„r ,, ’ 2 cargoes of slaves left Old Calabar.-1
-» Capt. John Adams, Sketches taken j “‘aves len
WUH™°p 4L8°6ndOn’ 1822)1 PP- U2 77 Af'ica’ be,ween
” Jones, Trading States, p. 46
™^?d8'Cy'Rcport on “’<= old
lozo, CAJoz/1. ^ar River, in Owen to Croker, 21 Feb.
21 Robert Jamieson, Commerce
frica (rev. C(jn , London, 1859), P- 21.

’’I
 THE SLAVE TRADE AT OLD CALABAR 21
But it was in 1821 that the British fleet involved in suppressing the
slave trade first visited Old Calabar.25 and from then on, the trade
fluctuated as to whether or not the fleet was in the vicinity. In 1825
the trade was increasing in the river,20 and it continued vigorously in

Table 2

Slaves exported in Liverpool shipsfrom New Calabar, Bonny, and Old

Calabar, 1752-1799
(Figures indicate the number of slaves anticipated as cargo.)
New Calabar Bonny Old Calabar
Ships Slaves Ships Slaves Ships Slaves
1752' 6 2,260 12 4,670 8 3,130
1771’ 3 1,050 16 6,850 11 3,250
1784s 11 4,210 13 6,900 11 4,200
1785* 15 5,450 14 8,600 8 3,150 (2,504)
1786’ 6 2,200 11 5,750 13 5,150 (2,828)
1787“ 5 1,860 9 6,650 7 2,360 (2,545)
1798’ 11 3,234 34 14,078 6 2,473
1799’ 8 2,583 37 14,945 6 2,275

Note: Numbers of slaves marked in brackets arc calculated from entries, in

Antera Duke’s Diary, of slaves actually carried away. It is unlikely that he
counted them all.
Sources: 1 Williams, Appendix vii, pp. 675-7. 2 Donnan, ii. 545-6. 3 Holt and
Gregson Papers, vol. x, nos. 463-71. 4 Ibid., nos, 449-59. 6 Ibid.,
nos. 473-5. 0 Ibid., no. 481. 7 Williams, Appendix xiii, pp. 681—4.
8 Donnan, ii. 646-9.

1828.27 But in 1829 it was said to be entirely suppressed,23 and the

river was free of slavers in 1831,29 and 1832.30 That slavers avoided
Old Calabar between 1829 and 1832 was due to the proximity of the
British settlement on Fernando Po in 1827-34, from which naval
activities were based, for Col. Nicolls, the Governor commented in
1834 that the slave traders were returning to the area again ‘thinking
we are gone’.31
During his residence on Fernando Po, Nicolls tried to persuade
Duke Ephraim, the leading figure in Old Calabar, to stop selling
26 Duke Ephraim to Collier, 9 Apr. 1821, in Collier to Croker, 16 Apr. 1821,
FO84/14. Knight to Croker, 5 Aug. 1821, FO84/14.
20 Hamilton etc. to Canning 10 Apr. 1825, FO84/38.
27 Owen to Hay, 16 Dec. 1828, CO82/1.
28 Ibid., 9 Apr. 1829, CO82/2.
29 Nicolls to Hay, 4 Dec. 1831, CO82/4.
30 Ibid., 24 Aug. 1833, CO82/6. 31 Ibid., 2 Apr. 1834, CO82/7.
22 THE ERA OF THE SLAVE TRADE
slaves, and in 1832 was hoping ‘that an arrangement might be made
with him (Ephraim), for a very trifling present, which would do more
to put down the Slave Trade than all the exertions of our active,
expensive, but inefficient squadron’.32 The following year he pointed
out to the Duke and his chiefs the benefits of legitimate commerce,33
but they continued to sell slaves, and ships which had loaded in Old
Calabar were captured by the squadron in 1836, 1838,31 and 1839.35
But in 1840 two ships were captured which had taken slaves from
Old Calabar, and two more slavers were wrecked at the mouth of
the river, which virtually brought the slave trade there to an end.30
Consequently the two Kings of Old Calabar were content to sign
treaties with Britain on 6 December 1841, ending the external slave
trade in exchange for five annual payments of 2,000 Spanish dollars
each,37 (or the equivalent in goods) a sum of about £416. 13s. 4rf.38
So it was that the slave trade at Old Calabar came to an end, for
when in 1842 a French slaver, backed by a gunboat, tried to force the
Efik to supply slaves, they refused steadfastly.30

2. Exports
As has been discussed, the slave trade at Old Calabar lasted about
190 years, from about 1650 to 1841. But how many slaves were
exported in this period is a matter for conjecture, as there are no
adequate statistics. Table 2 on page 21 shows the few figures which
exist, which are for Liverpool ships for eight years between 1752 and
1799. These figures are a very poor guide, as they give only the
number of slaves anticipated as cargo. Nor is there any way of know­
ing how representative these eight years were. Moreover, the full
total for each of these years must have been greater than the total
carried in Liverpool ships, for although Liverpool dominated the
trade, Bristol, London, and foreign ships still carried some slaves.
However, the figures indicate that Calabar provided about 16-25 per
cent of the slaves carried from the Bight of Biafra in Liverpool ships
during the eight years in question. Assuming that this proportion
■■ Ibid., 30 Jan. 1832, CO82/5. ” Ibid., 14 July 1833, CO82/6.
” Campbell to Wood, 28 Apr. 1838, FO84/262.
“ Tucker to Elliot, 17 Apr. 1839, FO84/302.
Tucker to O’Fcrrell, 26 May 1841, FO84/384.
’’ Blount to Tucker, 7 Dec. 1841, FO84/439.
38 Dike, Trade and Politics, p. 108.
31 Foote to Herbert, (undated, but 1842-3) FO84/495. Canning to Admiralty,
26 June 1843, FO84/492. Raymond to Foote, 10 Jan. 1843, FO84/495.
 THE SLAVE TRADE AT OLD CALABAR 23
was true of Calabar’s over-all contribution to the slave trade from
the Bight of Biafra between 1711 and 1810, then from Curtin’s
estimate that 823,700 slaves were carried away in these years,40 it can
be calculated that Calabar may have provided 133,600 of the total.
These were the peak years of the slave trade from this region, so it is
unlikely that as many slaves were carried away from Calabar in the
years before 1711, and after 1810, although Badgley did estimate,
in 1828, that from six to eight thousand slaves were exported an­
nually.41 So a reasonable guess of the total export of slaves from
Calabar during the years of the slave trade would be 250,000 at most.
The actual figure may lie somewhere between 133,600 and 250,000.
It must be borne in mind that these figures are really only obtained
by guesswork, and could be wide of the mark.
If there is little information about the number of slaves exported
from Old Calabar, there is no more detail of their cost. What price
evidence there is, is quoted in terms of the copper-rod currency
peculiar to the Cross River and Rio del Rey areas,42 which dates
back at least to 1668.13 Barbot at the end of the seventeenth century
quotes male slaves as costing from 38 to 48 coppers, and female
slaves from 28 to 37.44 This suggests that the price of a slave varied
according to his appearance, and according to market conditions.
By 1767 male slaves cost as much as 100 coppers each.45 The price
rise could have been due to many factors, such as increasing demand
in the New World, or decreasing supply in Old Calabar, or even a
depreciation of the copper rod. But the absence of concrete inform­
ation makes discussion of this topic fruitless.
Slaves were not the only exports in these years, for small quantities
of ivory and barwood were also bought by the Europeans,40 and at
the end of the seventeenth century, monkeys from Old Calabar were
popular in Europe.47 The ships also bought their provisions for the
40 Curtin, p. 221.
41 James Badgley, Report on the old Calabar River, in Owen to Croker, 21
Feb. 1828, CO82/1.
42 G. I. Jones, ‘Native and Trade Currencies in Southern Nigeria during the
Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries’, Africa, vol. 28, no. 1 (Jan. 1958), pp. 46-7.
See Chapter 5, below.
43 Harleian Collection, ii. 512.
44 Barbot, pp. 383, 465.
“ Williams, p. 539.
40 Barbot, p. 383. Adams, Sketches, p. 43. Williams, p. 486. Francis E. Hyde,
Bradbury B. Parkinson, and Sheila Marriner, ‘The Nature and Profitability of the
Liverpool Slave Trade’, E.H.R. 2nd Ser., vol. 5, no. 3 (1953), p. 369.
47 Barbot, p. 383.
24 THE ERA OF THE SLAVE TRADE
middle passage,” including quite large quantities of palm oil,1” some
of which appears eventually to have found its way to Liverpool.50

3. Imports
Imports are even more difficult to quantify than exports, because
of the lack of information. However, from what evidence there is, it
is clear that the goods imported were of direct utility: iron, copper,
hardware, and cloth.51 Therefore the common accusation that the
Europeans were foisting rubbish on to the Africans is not true.
Certainly gaudy clothes and gold-finished walking canes were sent
to Calabar,52 and even elaborate wooden houses,53 but these were
not the basis of the trade, and were only for the personal display of
particular wealthy men. A display of personal prestige was of great
importance to the African traders, as it revealed their status and
credit-worthiness, not only to their own people, but also to the
European traders who would have virtually no other yardstick by
which to judge. Spirits were also imported,51 but they do not appear
to have been very important. Early nineteenth-century material
suggests that liquor was mainly used for ‘dash’ by the Europeans.55
Over the years there were some significant changes in the type of
goods imported. For example, guns were not imported until after
1713, for Barbot does not mention them, and when William Snel-
grave visited Old Calabar that year, the inhabitants were armed with
bows and arrows.50 Yet by 1767 guns were a standard article of
trade.57 Nor was salt apparently imported until the development of
the palm-oil trade in the early years of the nineteenth century.58

4. The effect of external trade on the domestic economy

The majority of slaves exported came from far inland, as will be
discussed in the last section of this chapter, and unfortunately this
« Barbot, pp. 383, 465.
11 Adams, Sketches, pp. 43, 113, Duke, ‘Diary’, p. 40. 14 Dec. 1785, p. 42,
22 Jan. 1786.
10 Sec Chapter 5, p. 55-6.
11 Barbot, pp. 383, 465. Williams, pp. 539-40.
« Williams, pp. 545-6. 81 Hallett, pp. 207-8.
“ Williams, p. 540. Duke, ‘Diary’, pp. 35-6, 7 and 11 July 1785.
ss Edward Bold, The Merchants' and Mariners' African Guide (London, 1822),
pp. 77, 80-1. Adams, Sketches, pp. 113-16.
18 Capt. William Snclgrave, A New Account of Some Parts of Guinea, and the
S’ ■’ Trade (London, 1734), introduction.
8i illiams, pp. 539-40. 58 See Chapter 5, p. 73-4.
 THE SLAVE TRADE AT OLD CALABAR 25
means it is not possible to assess what damage may have been caused
by the vast outflow of labour. But as regards the lower Cross River
the effect of the movement of labour was favourable, as the Efik
themselves accumulated slaves to assist their trading operations.
It is also difficult to judge how imports from Europe affected the
indigenous economy. However, on the whole they must have been
beneficial. Iron was probably the most important import, the greater
supply of which must have had far-reaching consequences. Now tools
and implements could be made or sheathed in iron, whereas previ­
ously they had been usually made of wood.69 The distant areas where
the small amount of indigenous iron was produced may have been
seriously disturbed, but nothing is known about this. The import of
hardware would have had a more direct effect on the economy,
European-made knives and axes greatly increasing the efficiency of
the local labour force. Such hardware meant competition for the local
smiths, but the fact that unworked iron continued to be imported in
quantity indicates that they simply redirected their efforts into pro­
ducing articles of metalware which were not imported, like hoes and
other implements. When guns were imported after the second decade
of the eighteenth century, the bow-wrights and fletchers may have
also turned their hands to making tools. The copper which was
imported was mainly used for currency, although as an extension of
this it was used for personal ornament.00 The brass basins or ‘nep­
tunes’ which were imported were presumably sold to the salt-boiling
communities on the coast, and thereby increased the efficiency of
salt production. The import of textiles brought a new article of
consumption to a people who had previously managed largely
without,01 save for raffia ceremonial costumes which are used to this
day. As the amount of cloth manufactured in the region was negligible
before, these cloth imports can hardly have damaged local industry.

5. The internal slave trade

During the two centuries or so that the Efik were engaged in the
slave trade, they built up a trading organization which channelled
slaves to the coast, and distributed European manufactured and
semi-manufactured goods inland. How did this originally small
group of fishermen achieve this ?
It is not clear to what extent the Efik and other people of the lower
60 Harleian Collection, ii. 515-16. 10 Ibid. ii. 516. .
01 Harleian Collection, ii. 512, 516.
26 THE ERA OF THE SLAVE TRADE
Cross River were slave-holders before the arrival of the Europeans.
But Watts’s description of Old Calabar in 1668 shows that slavery
already existed.62 Cannibalism and human sacrifice were also prac­
tised,63 as they were up-river until this century,64 which suggests
that slavery existed before the Europeans came, at least to provide
victims for feasts or rituals. As the Efik were very like the Ibibio, who
were not great slave-holders,65 conceivably those eaten or sacrificed
were merely prisoners of war.66
It was a simple development from eating prisoners of war to
selling them, and Watts supports this hypothesis by stating ‘The
slaves, they sell to the English are prisoners taken in war . . ,’.67 A
century later Isaac Parker recounted how he had joined an Efik chief
on a slave-raiding expedition by canoe in the 1760s,68 and other
observers of the time also tell of slave-raiding.68 But by the 1780s a
trading network had come into existence, for Alexander Falconbridge
noted that the slaves were bought by the traders at fairs held two
hundred miles inland.™ Antera Duke, also writing in the 1780s,
establishes that both raiding and trading provided slaves. One entry
in his Diary notes ‘Tom Aqua and John Aqua joined together to
catch men’.71 Elsewhere he says that he had sent his brother ‘Egbo
Young to Boostam to trade for slaves’, and also ‘Opter Antera to
Enyong to trade for slaves’.72
The date of the development of this internal marketing system, so
clearly established by the 1780s, is bound up with the origins of the
Aro. They were the most important suppliers of slaves to Bonny,
New Calabar, and Old Calabar, in the nineteenth century. The basis
of their commercial success was their possession of the Long Juju of
Arochuku. It was famed far and wide, and litigants came long dist­
ances to seek the Oracle’s judgement. Fees and fines were made in

Ibid. ii. 516.

11 Ibid. ii. 512-13, 516. Barbot, p. 381. Snclgrave, Introduction.
“Johnston to Salisbury, 9 Feb. 1888, No. 6, Africa, FO84/1881. Johnston,
Memorandum on the British Protectorate of the Oil Rivers, 26 July 1888, FO84/
1882. Unsigned letter from H.B.M’s Niger Coast Protectorate, 26 Oct. 1895.
Calprof 8/2 vol. 1.
“ Forde and Jones, p. 75. UPCMR N.s. 11 (1 July 1869), 398, cit. Dr. Robb,
“ Jones, Trading States, p. 115. 07 Harleian Collection, ii. 516.
•• Abridgement, iii (1790), 53. “ Ibid, iii (1790), 61.
’• Alexander Falconbridgc, An Account of the Slave Trade on the Coast of
Africa (London, 1788), p. 12.
71 Duke, ‘Diary’, p. 28, 30 Jan. 1785.
’■ Ibid., p. 34, 21 June 1785, p. 35, 7 July 1785.
 THE SLAVE TRADE AT OLD CALABAR 27
slaves which the oracle was supposed to devour, but in fact the slaves
were hidden and later sold. Beside slaves gained in this way, the Aro
also dealt directly in slaves.” Their traditions maintain that they
originated in a fusion of elements of different tribes, united by
Okoyong mercenaries from Akankpa near Creek Town, Calabar.
These mercenaries were successful because they possessed the first
guns to be seen so far inland, which came from Calabar.’1 Presum­
ably their guns also played an important part in establishing the Aro
trading network. These guns are crucial to the process of dating the
founding of the Aro people, and the network they built up. For, as
has been shown above, firearms were not imported to Calabar until
after 1713.” So it is clear that the Aro did not come into being until
nearer the middle of the eighteenth century, nor did their trading
network.
Coinciding with the development of the marketing network inland
during the middle of the eighteenth century, came a sophistication of
trading relations with the Europeans. It is unlikely that credit was
given to the Africans in the uncertain conditions which Watts de­
scribed in the early years of the trade. But by the 1760s the Euro­
peans were advancing credit or ‘trust’ as it was known to the Efik in
the form of trade goods, taking as security a hostage known as a
‘pledge’ or ‘pawn’, often one of the African traders’ sons.” The
Efik would then give the goods to their agents, and send them to the
inland markets to buy slaves.” Holman described the working of
the slave trade as practised by Duke Ephraim in 1828 in this way:

He induces the Captains to deposit a quantity of goods in his hands, which

he sorts into such portions as would form an ordinary load for a man to
carry on his head. He then sends his agents into the country with the goods
to purchase slaves, promising the Captains their cargoes, amounting to any
given number, within a stated time.”

" Dike, pp. 37^11.

74 Ibadan I.R. 29017, Aro Clan of Arochuku District, Calabar Province, 1933,
T. M. Shankland, A.D.O., pp. 9-10, paras. 35-7. For a slightly different version of
Aro origins, sec G. I. Jones, ‘Who are the Aro?’, Nigerian Field, vol. 8, no. 3
(1939), pp. 100-3.
See above p. 24.
75 Sec
70 Williams,
unib, pp. 541, D^tJ
pp. 533^t, J^tl, 543-5.
—J. DUAL, Diary’,, p.
Duke, ‘Uluiy 35, —24 UUU
p. JJ, June 11785,
and —27/ JU11V to-1,
7 July 1785 •
55, p. 44, 20 Apr. —
1786. Abridgement, ii. 205-6.
77 Duke,;, ‘Diary’, p. 34, 21 June 1785, p. 35, 7 July 1785.
78 J. Holman,
Holt Travels in Madeira, Sierra Leone, Teneriffe, St. Jago, Cape Coast,
Fernando Po, Princes Island, etc., etc., (2nd cdn., London, 1840), p. 396.
28 THE ERA OF THE SLAVE TRADE
In effect the Efik traders were receiving credit from the Europeans,
and then giving credit to their agents, expecting slaves in return.
Although there may have been credit involved in internal trans­
actions before the arrival of the Europeans, the growth of credit, as
the slave trade developed, created special problems, because of the
large sums involved. Commercial credit of the kind of which the Efik
were now availing themselves, was essentially capitalist in origin and
nature, and having espoused capitalism preferred by the Europeans
in this way, they had now to adopt institutions to govern the bad
debts which might occur. Rather than copy any western institution
to solve this problem the Efik produced a brilliant solution of their
own, a new form of secret society called Ekpe. Like the introduction
of guns, the development of the internal marketing system, and the
trust system, Ekpe dates from the period of the rapid expansion of
the slave trade in the mid-eighteenth century, as will be shown in
Chapter 3, where Ekpe will be discussed at length. Although Ekpe
had many other functions, its debt-collecting role was vital, and in
the case of bankruptcy it had the power to destrain the debtor’s
property. It was therefore a genuinely African capitalist institution
of an elementary kind.
The last question to be considered is the origin of the slaves which
the Efik sold to the Europeans. The earliest slaves sold were the
unlucky members of lower Cross River tribes captured in war. But
as war became raiding specifically for slaves, and as the market net­
work for slaves developed inland, slaves were brought from further
and further inland. Falconbridge tells of English seamen being
seized on the coast somewhere between Bonny and Old Calabar,
probably on the Qua Ibo, and force-marched across country to
Calabar where they were sold as slaves, thereby revealing a trade
route to the west.™ Antera Duke’s men traded at Boostam (Umon)
and Enyong for slaves.80 And Nicholls in 1805 stated that the Calabar
slaves came from ‘Eericock (Ikot Offiong), Tabac (Oron) Eericock
Boatswain (Umon), and Ebeo (Iboland); sometimes some Brassy
(Bakasi) slaves and Cameroons Slaves’.81 But tradition holds that the
main slave market was Itu, and the majority of slaves Ibo, provided
by the Aro.82 Waddell supports this view, for he stated in 1849 that

” Falconbridgc, pp. 44-5.

” Duke, ‘Diary’, p. 34, 21 June 1785, p. 35, 7 July 1785.
1 Hallett, p. 204.
Chief U. E. E. Adam, 22 Nov. 1965. Chief E. Ekpcnyong, M.B.E., 1 Dec.
 THE SLAVE TRADE AT OLD CALABAR 29
the Ibo slave market was very extensive.83 And Curtin and Vansina,
using Koelle’s Polyglotta Africana, have recently shown that there
were large numbers of Ibo slaves liberated in Sierra Leone from
captured slave ships, in the first half of the nineteenth century. Other
liberated slaves who may have been sold at Old Calabar came from
Ibibioland, and the tribes of the upper Cross River, such as the
Akunakuna, Yako, and Ekoi, but there were also Tiv, and people
from the Cameroons Highlands.81 Waddell was aware of the latter
source of slaves to the east, for he refers to the Qua market,83 prob­
ably Uwet which he elsewhere states to have been a great slave market
in the days of the external slave trade, but which had declined since
its end.80 There the slaves came from ‘some district of Mbudikom, a
country several days journey beyond the Qua mountains’.87 As late
as 1888 most of the slaves brought to Old Calabar were from this
area,88 and Chilver has recently identified them as coming from the
Bamenda Grassfields of the Cameroons Highlands.80 Many however
may have been Tiv, for there was a slave route from the middle and
upper Benue to Old Calabar,00 and the Tiv shared the same copper-
rod currency as the Efik,01 unlike the people of Bamenda.02
So it was that the advent of the external slave trade revolutionized
the Efik economy. Originally fishermen, the Efik became slave traders,
at first obtaining the slaves by war and raiding, and then by purchase.
As a proper market network for slaves built up during the middle
of the eighteenth century, the Efik began both to receive and give
credit, adopting a new institution, Ekpe, to govern the inevitable
problem of bad debts. It was an elementary capitalist institution, of

1965. Chief Thomas A. Efiom, M.O.N., 7 Dec. 1965. Chief Ene Ndem Ephraim
Duke, 23 Nov. 1965. Ibadan I.R. 31013, ItuClan of Itu District, Calabar Province,
1935, R. Floyer, A.D.O., p. 3, para. 5.
83 P.P. 1849, (308) xix, 1, 1st Report, Minutes of Evidence taken before the
Select Committee on the Slave Trade, p. 393, Revd. H. M. Waddell.
83 Phillip D. Curtin and Jan Vansina, ‘Sources of the Nineteenth Century
Atlantic Slave Trade', J.A.H., vol. 5, no. 2 (1964), pp. 186, 197.
85 P.P. 1849, (308), xix. 1, 1st Report, p. 393, Rcvd. H. M. Waddell.
88 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 459.
87 UPCMR 14 (Sept. 1859), 169, cit. Goldie, 27 June 1859.
88 Report on the British Protectorate of the Oil Rivers, Section F. Ethnology,
in Johnston to Salisbury, 1 Dec. 1888, FO84/1882.
80 E. M. Chilver, ‘Nineteenth Century Trade in the Bamenda Grassficlds,
Southern Cameroons’, Afrika und Ubersee, xlv. 233.
•° Curtin and Vansina, p. 190.
81 Paul and Laura Bohannan, Tiv Economy (London, 1968), p. 237.
93 Chilver, p. 251. ’■'
30 THE ERA OF THE SLAVE TRADE
entirely African origin. Yet the credit which the Efik gave was
dependent upon the credit which they received from the Europeans.
In this way the Efik economy dovetailed into the international
economy, where the demand for their slaves originated, and became
an integral part of the international economic system. Such a revolu­
tion in the Efik economy inevitably resulted in substantial changes in
Efik society, which will be discussed in the next chapter.
 CHAPTER 3
The Slave Trade and Efik Social History

This chapter will discuss the changes which the slave trade brought
about in Efik society. Although information about Efik social struc­
ture is very limited before the middle of the nineteenth century, care
has been exercised not to project backwards the mid-nineteenth­
century situation, for as Dike,1 Jones,2 and more recently, Nair3 have
suggested, by that time Efik society had been modified by the ending
of the slave trade, and the development of the palm-oil trade.

1. The incorporation of slaves into Efik society

When the Efik arrived in Old Calabar about the beginning of the
seventeenth century, their social organization was like that of the
Uruan Ibibio among whom they had lived so long. Accordingly, their
social structure was composed of family cells, of a man, his wives,
and children. Several of these cells, related through their menfolk,
made up a compound group, known as an ufok, or house. And several
compound groups, acknowledging agnatic descent from a common
founding ancestor, made up a lineage group. The original village
settlement was made up of two lineage groups, bound together by
their common tutelary deity, secret society, and council.4
But the onset of the slave trade introduced a new element to Efik
society. For it is unlikely that the Efik were owners of many slaves
when they were simple fishermen.5 But now they required extra hands
to man the canoes, join the raiding gangs, and later, to trade at the
slave markets. Although Nair states that the Efik were not slave
holders during the days of the slave trade,5 the very earliest record
of Old Calabar society shows that in 1668 domestic slavery was
already common.’ Mid-eighteenth century material bears this out,
for Isaac Parker, an English seaman who stayed in Old Calabar for
1 Dike, pp. 153-9.
2 Jones, ‘Political Organisation’, pp. 132-5. Jones, Trading States, pp. 189-90.
3 Nair, K. K., ‘Politics and Society in Old Calabar, 1841-1906’ (Univ, of
Ibadan Ph.D. thesis 1967), pp. 63-4.
• See Chapter 1, p. 13. • See Chapter 2, pp. 25-6.
“ Nair, pp. 63-4.
7 Harleian Collection, ii. 516.
32 THE ERA OF THE SLAVE TRADE
several months, in 1765-6, remarked that Dick Ebro’, the Efik chief
with whom he lived, had many slaves which he employed in cutting
wood, fishing, and as canoe boys.9 And Captain Hall, a sea captain
who traded at Old Calabar in the 1770s, affirmed that the canoe boys
were slaves? There are also numerous references to domestic slaves
in Antera Duke’s Diary,10 including reference to a trading slave, in
the entry ‘my first boy came from Curcock with slaves’.11
As the structure of Efik society was based upon kinship, which
determined a man’s membership in family, compound, and lineage,
the slaves who now were settled at Old Calabar were inevitably
‘outsiders’. They were considered to be the personal possessions of
their master,12 and therefore appendages to the basic framework of
society, without economic, social, or political rights. As the numbers
of slaves grew, their masters, who could all trace their descent from
one of the two Efik ancestors, became a ruling elite of freemen.
Yet slaves were expected to support and identify with the interests
of their masters, for whom they had to work, and if necessary, fight.
This gave them opportunity to achieve both wealth and influence
despite their lack of kinship. Those slaves who were born and brought
up in Calabar were especially favoured,13 as they were fully ‘Eficised’,
and by the middle of the eighteenth century there must have been
many of these. But the most eminent was Eyo Nsa, whose career will
be discussed at greater length in Chapter 4. Although not a freeborn
Efik, Eyo Nsa became a great warrior, for which he was rewarded by
the Ambos with one of their princesses as a wife.14 This was tant­
amount to being granted freedom because it gave him kinship with
the freemen by marriage. By his active participation in the slave trade,
he became extremely rich, and by buying slaves for business and
prestige, built up a large household of retainers which established
itself as a new lineage group, and segment of the Efik community.
8 P.P. 1790 (699), Ixxxviii, Minutes of the Evidence taken before the Select
Committee appointed for the Examination of Witnesses on the Slave Trade,
pp. 133-4, Isaac Parker.
9 P.P. 1790 (698), Ixxxvii, Minutes of the Evidence taken before the Select
Committee appointed for the Examination of Witnesses on the Slave Trade,
p. 551, Capt. J. A. Hall.
10 Duke, ‘Diary’, p. 33, 17 June 1785, p. 42, 23 Jan. 1786, p. 44, 20 Apr. 1786,
pp. 48-9, 14 Oct. 1786, p. 49, 15 Oct. 1786, p. 50, 6 Nov. 1786, p. 54, 17 Mar.
1787, p. 60,1 Oct. 1787, p. 62, 1 Nov. 1787, etc.
11 Ibid., p. 30, 21 Apr. 1785.
w Marwick, p. 325. •
” Waddell, Twenty-Nine Year irs, p. 318. Marwick, p. 326.
14 Hart Report, paras. 285, 28:187.
 THE SLAVE TRADE AND EFIK SOCIAL HISTORY 33
2. Development of the house or ward
But Eyo Nsa was not alone in creating a new segment in Efik
society during the days of the slave trade. For the two original
lineage groups, which formed the two segments of Efik society at the
date of settlement, subdivided into six separate segments, which
Jones has called ‘wards’. The Ema lineage split into the Cobhams and
Ambos, while the Efiom Ekpo lineage split into the Henshaws,
Ntieros, Eyambas, and Dukes.15 Together with the Eyos, there were
now seven wards. As all the wards, with the exception of the Eyos,
had originated in compound groups which had formed part of the
two basic lineages, they retained the Ibibio name for a compound
group, which was ufok or house.
The reason for the expansion of particular compound groups into
independent wards lay in the accumulation of slaves by the members
of the compound group. As in the case of Eyo Nsa, successful traders
needed many slaves to work their canoes, and handle their business,
and as a result became masters of large numbers of retainers. If
several men in the compound group were successful, the compound
group as a whole would possess a substantial body of retainers. This
would give the compound group political strength, and the power to
enable them to reject the authority of the old lineage head, and estab­
lish themselves as a self-governing group, to all intents and purposes
a new lineage group. Consequently it can be said that the Efik house­
system was the direct result of the introduction of slaves into Efik
society. Yet the fact that several compound groups broke away from
the control of their original lineage group, as they filled out with
slaves, did not mean that they no longer acknowledged their descent
from the original lineage founders. This was still acknowledged,
because it defined the free status of the ward leaders. All that had
happened was that the freemen no longer accepted the political con­
trol of the old lineage.
Of the two original lineages, more compound groups expanded
into wards from Efiom Ekpo lineage than from Ema lineage. Apart
from the groups which separated to form Old Town, only two wards
developed from Ema lineage. These were Cobham, which is the
remnant of the original lineage, and Ambo, which grew from the
compound group headed by Oku Atai, one of the original settlers
at Creek Town. But from Efiom Ekpo four wards had grown up by
the end of the eighteenth century. These were Henshaw, which was
15 Sec Chart 1, Efik structural genealogy, p. 10.
 34 THE ERA OF THE SLAVE TRADE
E
the remnant of the original lineage, Ntiero, which was based on the
C compound group of one of Efiom Ekpo’s sons, and the two wards
Eyamba and Duke which grew from the compound groups estab­
lished by the outcast illegitimate twins of Efiom Ekpo’s daughter.16
t
These last two wards are of particular interest in that neither could
11 claim for their freemen agnatic descent from either of the two Efik
traditional ancestors. Like the Eyo ward, founded by Eyo Nsa, their
r< legitimacy was dubious, and yet, as will be seen in Chapter 4, they
a
n dominated Efik commercial and political life in the last third of the
Ifi eighteenth century, and thereafter.
n« Each of the wards which came into being was governed in the same
3X way as the lineage groups they had superseded. All the freemen
lu
acknowledged descent from the founder of the ward, and were
Y€
organized in families and compounds within the ward.’ Each sub­
as
B division of the ward was governed by the elder and the head of that
w subdivision, together with a council of elders. If two subdivisions
E clashed they could put their dispute to the arbitration of the head
a
b and council of the higher subdivision, of which they were both part.
tl
Ultimatdy each ward was ruled by a head and cyouncil of elders.
a
ti

a—
a
s
1

1 incorporated into society, and indenend p comP,etely as slaves were

being which could be governed by slav t canoe-h°uses came int0
house as ‘a compact and well 0rga • ,Jones describes the canoe-
poration, capable of manning and maint • trac''nS and fighting cor"
was nothing analogous to this in Old „a!ning a war canoe’.18 There
ward established by Eyo Nsa. Yet this 13 a^ar’ save perhaps for the
ning a war canoe, and functioned in., m d noth>ng to do with man-
JUst hke the other Efik wards.
3. The forces which united Efik society
Although the incorporation of s]av
in the expansion of certain compoUndVes ’nto ^fik society resulted
chose to cast aside the control of t[,e.grouPs to tlle extent that they
wards did not separate themselves f? llneage heads, the resulting
»Sec pp. 9-10. « Wadd the village group. Even
" Jones, Trading States, p. 67 ■ y^ p 3J4

r
 THE SLAVE TRADE AND EFIK SOCIAL HISTORY 35
though Duke Town was on the other side of the river from Creek
Town, the two settlements continued to form what was essentially
one enlarged village. The original village with its two lineage seg­
ments, had been united by their common tutelary deity, secret society,
and council, and this remained mostly true of the enlarged village
with its seven segments or wards which had come into being as a
direct result of the slave trade.
The first of these integrating forces was the cult of Ndem Efik,
the tutelary deity whose guardian priest has always come from the
Cobham ward which is the remnant of the original Ema lineage.19
Ndem Efik is a water god, appropriate to the traditional Efik occu­
pation of fishing.20 He is supposed to dwell in the river near Parrot
Island, where albino or light-coloured girls were commonly sacrificed
to him.21 Apparently the Ndem priest had once been of great import­
ance in Efik affairs, and was known as King Calabar.22 As late as
the middle of the nineteenth century, he was the ultimate judge of
crimes for which there was no precedent.22 But although the Ndem
priesthood still exists,21 it had already lost much of its influence by
1805.25 This was because the Ndem priest was debarred from
trading,20 an unimportant factor when the Efik were only fishermen,
but decisive as they became slave traders. While other Efik freemen
could trade, grow wealthy, and build up retinues of slaves, the Ndem
priest could not, until he was left with nothing but ritual importance
in a ritual which itself had ceased to be very important.
As the Ndem cult lost effectiveness as an integrating force during
the development of the slave trade, a new cult grew up which helped
to bind together the newly emergent wards. This was called Ekpe,
and was associated with a secret society. The new secret society
modified or replaced the secret society called Nyana Yaku, or Mkpe,
which had originally helped to integrate the two lineages in the
village group.27
Ekpe, or Egbo as it was known to the Europeans, is first referred
to in the 1770s, for in 1776 Otto Ephraim wrote to Ambrose Lace, a
19 Hart Report, p. 75, para. 200.
20 Revd. Hugh Goldie, Dictionary of the Efik Language (Edinburgh 1874),
p. 144, s.v. ‘ka, v. t’, p. 200, ‘Ndem Efik’.
21 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 617. Marwick, p. 398, citing Anderson,
14 June 1862. UPCMR N.s. 4 (1 March 1872), 81, cit. Dr. Robb.
22 Goldie, Calabar, p. 43. Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, pp. 314—15.
23 T. J. Hutchinson, Impressions of Western Africa (London 1858), p. 146.
21 Hart Report, para. 200. 25 Hallett, p. 200.
20 Goldie, Calabar, p. 43. 27 Hart Report, paras. 101, 81, 176.
D
 36 THE ERA OF THE SLAVE TRADE
Liverpool merchant, ‘1 pay Egbo men yesterday I done.now
for Egbo’.28 And in 1773 ‘Grandy King George’ of Old Town wrote
that ‘the New town people ... has blowed abuncko for no SJ‘P
go from my water to them nor any to cum from them to me. - »
Ekpe must have come into being at a date nearer to the mtdd e o
the eighteenth century. Tradition maintains that the founder of
was Esien Ekpe Oku, grandson of Oku Atai, one of the first Enk
settlers at Creek Town. Esien Ekpe Oku is said to have bought the
Ekpe secrets from Archibong Ekundo, a man from Usak Edet,30
f now known as Bakasi, on the Cameroons side of the Cross River
estuary.31 Thus Esien Ekpe Oku became Eyamba I, the first presi­
dent of Ekpe. Later he transferred this office to his senior half­
J
brother, who therefore became Eyamba II.32 But Ekpenyong Ofiong,
who was Eyamba III,33 was in office in 1805, for the traveller Nicholls
3 refers to him as ‘Egbo Young Eyambo’.31 He appears to have held
office as early as 1787, for in a distribution of Ekpe entry fines in that
E
a
year, he received more than any other member.35 This is certainly
b possible, for he is described as ‘between sixty and seventy’ in 1805.30
Thus he would have been in his middle forties in 1787. As it is un­
a likely that he took office before he was twenty the very earliest date
at which he might have taken office would be about 1760. As his
z
predecessor was the senior half-brother of the founder of the society,
it is improbable that together they had ruled for more than fifty years.
In which case Ekpe cannot have been founded before 1710. A date
later than 1710 is suggested by the fact that Eyo Nsa, the second
Ebunko in Ekpe^received this office through his wife, on the death of
18M3“lf he held office f nr P°Sition in 1805,38 and d‘Cd “*
abou\nK

P p ms to have come about in those years of the

28 Williams, p. 548. 20 jl-.
30 Hart Report, paras. 177, 180 182 PP’ 543~4-

" Hart Report, para. 186. See List „r e «

33 See List of Eyamba title-holder. • kyamba title-holders in Ekpe, P- 3'-
" Hallett, p. 198. » Duke -n" P- 37.
” Hallett p. 199. « Hart . P- 59, 31 Aug. 1787.
Capt. Hugh Crow, Memoirs ofa *’ para- 186. 33 Hallett, p. 199.
(London, 1830), p. 280. 01 late Captain Hugh Crow of Liverpool
 THE SLAVE TRADE AND EFIK SOCIAL HISTORY 37
Chart 4
Eyamba title-holders in Ekpe
Esien Ekpe Oku (Ambo) CT. Eyamba I
Ekpenyong Ekpe Oku (Ambo) CT. Eyamba II
Ekpenyong Ofiong Okoho (Eyamba) DT. Eyamba III (King)
Efiom Edem (Duke) DT. Eyamba IV (King)
Edem Ekpenyong Ofiong Okoho (Eyamba) DT. Eyamba V (King)
Ntiero Ekpenyong Ofiong Okoho (Eyamba) DT. Eyamba VI
Efiom Edem Ekpenyong (Eyamba) DT. Eyamba VII
Edcm Archibong (Archibong) DT. Eyamba VIII ring)
Orok Edem (Duke) DT. Eyamba IX (King)
James Eyamba (Eyamba) DT. Eyamba X
Efiom John Eyamba (Eyamba) DT. Eyamba XI
Adam John Eyamba (Eyamba) DT. Eyamba XII
Efcfiom John Eyamba (Eyamba) DT. Eyamba XIII
Effa John Eyamba (Eyamba) DT. Eyamba XIV
CT. = Creek Town DT. = Duke Town
Source: Hart Report, para. 158.

mid-eighteenth century in which the pattern of commerce at Old

Calabar was changing as the Europeans began to give the Efik traders
credit, and the internal slave market developed. The introduction of
Ekpe was an integral part of this process, for the society had import­
ant powers to control credit indebtedness, as will be discussed below.
Ekpe's functions were religious, judicial, commercial, and social.
Ekpe itself was a forest spirit, which had to be propitiated for the
well-being of the community. Ekpe society claimed to interpret the
desires of Ekpe, and invoked his authority to back their decisions.40
Being a spirit, Ekpe was never seen by anyone, but it had a messenger
called Idem Ikwo, who dressed in a raffia costume with a black hood,
and a bell fastened to his side. This figure went about the town
carrying a bunch of leaves in one hand to denote his forest origin,
and a large whip in the other, with which he whipped those who
were not members of the society.41 In this way the leading men of
Calabar exercised control over law and commerce, in the name of a
deity of which the rest of the population was kept in awe.
It was Ekpe society which made and enforced the law in Calabar.
While the wards had complete authority over their own people, it
was Ekpe which made laws for the community as a whole,42 and adju­
40 Jones, ‘Political Organisation,’ p. 137.
41 Hutchinson, Impressions, pp. 142-3.
43 Hart Report, para. 152. Brief Statement of Henshaws Town, 30 Dec. 1877,
in Oflbr to Derby, 14 Feb. 1878, FO84/1527. Statement of Henshaws Town,
20 Aug. 1878, paras. 3,17, Calprof Ibadan 4/1 vol. 6.
 38 THE ERA OF THE SLAVE TRADE
dicated disputes between wards.43 G. I. Jones has recognized seven
principal sanctions which Ekpe could apply to enforce its judge­
ments. First it could boycott a person, by having Ekpe ‘blown
I against him, which would prohibit anyone from trading or having
any other dealing with the offender. Secondly, it could place a mark
on someone’s property which prevented its being used until the mark
had been removed. Thirdly, ithad the power to impose fines. Fourthly,
c it could arrest an offender and detain him or hand him over to the
person with whom he was at odds. Fifthly, it could execute an
A offender, either by decapitation, or by tying him to a tree in the bush
n
with his lower jaw removed.44 Sixthly, it could confine people to their
j>
IL quarters by hoisting a yellow flag. And lastly it could destroy or
destrain a man’s property.45 Of these sanctions nearly all had a
a; definite economic force, and it is clear that Ekpe's powers in com­
B mercial matters were very great.
E Its most important economic function was that it had the power to
a enforce the repayment of debts, an essential power in a society which
t had adopted credit trading. Holman describes how this was done in
t 1828:
2
t
applies to the Duke forth^Egbo dru fr°m “ de^tor'’’the assrievcd party
with the nature of his complaint- if ’ acctua'ntmS him at the same time
Egbo assembly immediately meet a .e accedes to the demand, the
... If the complaint be just, the F* drums are heat about the town;
warn him of his delinquency,’ and t h *S sent t0 tde offending party to
nouncement no one dares move out° r manc* reparation, after which an-
until the affair is settled, and if it house, inhabited by the culprit,
down about their ears, in which c nOt S°°n arran8ed, the house is pulled
follows.46 ase ‘he loss of a few heads frequently

Because Ekpe had the power t

traders joined the society during th co"ect debts, several European
the advantage being, as Captain r nineteenth century if not earlier,
could be given to the African t d Walker related, that credit
could be recovered.47 It was this radcrs> w‘th full confidence that it
credit which lay behind the spread°^er t0 insist 011 the repayment of
of EkPe societies among the other

Holman, p. 392 u
"™ 6(2Oc«a^
' M cit. Walker.
 THE SLAVE TRADE AND EFIK SOCIAL HISTORY 39
peoples further inland up the Cross river,18 for by adopting Ekpe
they made themselves credit-worthy in the eyes of the Efik, and there­
fore could avail themselves of Efik credit.
Besides Ekpe society’s religious, legal, and commercial functions,
it also acted as a chamber of commerce and club for the important
menfolk from the various wards, where they might meet over a
drink, or the occasional banquet.'10
Membership of Ekpe was open to all men, slave or free. There were
nine grades of membership, the most important grades all having
been introduced by Esien Ekpe Oku, the founder of the society.50
The first four grades in order of descent were Nyamkpe, Okpoho,
Okuakama, and Nakanda, and were only open to freemen. Beneath
them were the remaining five grades to which slaves could belong,
which were in order of descent, Mboko, Mboko Mboko, Mkpe,
Mbakara, and Edibo. Membership to each grade had to be bought,
and before one could be admitted to any but the first grade, one had
to possess all the grades below it. Each grade had its own worshipful
master, known as the obong of the grade, this position tending to
be associated with a particular family. Above all the grades was the
vice-president of the society, called the Ebunko, and the president
known as the Eyamba.n
Of the Ekpe grades, it was Nyamkpe, the top grade, which formed
the main decision-making council,52 and Okpoho, the second grade,
which implemented its decisions.63 These grades were of course
restricted to freemen, which has led Jones to conclude that one of
Ekpe’s purposes was to keep the slave population in subjection.51
Yet this cannot have been entirely so, for Eyo Nsa managed to achieve
the exalted position of Ebunko, vice-chairman of Ekpe, on the death
of the society’s founder.55 In fact the effect of Ekpe was to integrate
the slaves into Efik society by giving them a share, however small,
in the central organ of government. That they had an inferior status
in the society was due to the fact that they belonged to freemen,
18 Hart Report, para. 149. John Parkinson, ‘A note on the Efik and Ekoi Tribes
of the Eastern Provinces of Southern Nigeria’, J.R.A.I. 37 (1907), 264.
M. Ruel Leopards and Leaders (London, 1969), pp. 217-8.
" Hallett, p. 203. Jones, ‘Political Organisation’, p. 137.
50 Hart Report, para. 177.
51 Holman, p. 392. Hutchinson, Impressions, pp. 141-2. VPCMR 6 (2 Oct.
1876), 283-4, cit. Walker. Hart Report, paras. 150-1, 157. Chief E. Ekpenyong,
M.B.E., 3 Dec. 1965.
02 Holman, p. 507. 82 Jones, ‘Political Organisation’, p. 139.
51 Ibid., pp. 145-8. 55 See p. 36.
 40 THE era of the slave trade
yet as the case of Eyo Nsa proved, upward mobility ’was not totally
impossible.
So it was that men from all wards, both free and slave, formed a
I common organization which made and implemented the law, and
instituted bankruptcy proceedings. Not only did it unite them in a
common organization, through which they might meet each other
socially, as well as binding them together by the force of friendship,
c it also provided the machinery to solve any disputes which might
r arise between them. Indeed, as G. I. Jones has suggested, it is be­
■f cause of the integrating force of Ekpe society, that the separatist
n tendencies displayed by the wards, as they grew out of the old com­
lu pound groups of the original lineages, were restrained.50 Because
V< their interests could be pursued via the Ekpe society, they were
a: content to remain part of the extended village group, rather than
B break completely away to form new and independent village groups
w of their own.
E
a But Ekpe was not a secular village council This last integrating
t institution of the original village settlement continued much as
t before being made up of a group of elders drawn from the various
t wards,57 Without any formal restrictions. It was chaired as before by
t
what appears to have been the obong isong> and it was respOnsible for
matters pertaining to the village as a whole, in particular relations
with foreigners, as wi 1 be discussed more fu1 y in Chapter 4.
Thus the external s ave trade resulted in the introduction to Efik
society of domest.c slaves required to meet the demand for extra
manpower. Consequently the comn„, , inc ucm<ulu
ful traders filled out with slaves to ” ®roups of tbe most success
able to cast aside the control of th an extent tbat 'vcrc
selves as independent wards. Yet th»Elr lneaSc> ar*d establish t tem-
away entirely from the village Se e,mergent wards did not break
within it as new segments. For alth ^Ut cbose instead to remain
old fishing cult had weakened as fit? ’nte8rat'n8 porce tbe
the economy, a new and vigorous i8 Ceased t0 be the basls.
which was more orientated towa'a * Cabed ^Pe came int0 being
Ekpe’s secret society made and enf1 S Prob'ems °*' commerce,
cial law, and its membership was 0°rced tbe law, especially commer-
could afford its fees, whether Slav t0 members of all wards, who
e Or free- Moreover, all the wards
Jones, ‘Political Organisation- n ]d.
p‘*^23 Jure 2 ^ar. 1786,
’ W, 26 Sept. 1787.

I
 THE SLAVE TRADE AND EFIK SOCIAL HISTORY 41
participated in the common village council which dealt with general
affairs, especially the vital question of relations with the Europeans.
So it was that the central organs of Efik government were modified to
serve the interests of the several wards, who therefore were content
to remain within the enlarged village. Nevertheless considerable
political manoeuvring took place as particular wards attempted to
gain control of the organs of government, as will be described in the
next chapter.
I

1 CHAPTER 4
The Slave Trade and Efik Political History
c While the previous chapters have shown how the slave trade devel­
f oped, and the social consequences of its expansion, this chapter will
discuss the interplay of the emergent wards for the dominant political
offices in the Efik community, and the struggle by that community
for dominance over the other people of the lower Cross River.
Il
3 1. Efik political offices
A
e It was pointed out in Chapter 3 that originally the three inte­
a grating ties of Efik society were the Ndem cult, the secret society, and
h the village council. But as the slave trade replaced fishing as the basis
t
of the Efik economy, the importance of the Ndem cult diminished,
t and the new cult of Ekpe, connected to the refurbished secret society,
largely superseded it in influence. The village council was unaffected
by these changes, continuing as before. As in Ibibio society, each of
these integrating organs had a particular office-holder at their head.
Indeed Captain Hall who visited Old Calabar in 1775-6, noted that
‘At Calabar they had Three Kings, one of which had the Civil
Government, the other was at the head of the Religion, and the third
at the Head of the Law.’1
The head of religion was the Ndem priest, known even in the
nineteenth century as King Calabar. And the head of law was of
course the Eyamba. But the head of the civil government requires
some discussion, as there has been great confusion among European
observers about this position. In the nineteenth century he was
known as the ‘King’, and the use of this term has led Europeans to
the conclusion that this office conferred sovereign powers upon the
holder. But an examination of the possible Efik terms for this office
shows this to be a false assumption. There are three possible Efik
terms for this office: etinyin, edidem, and obong." In Ibibio, etinyin is
' P.P. 1789 (646), Ixxxiv, Papers received since the Date of the Report of the
Committee for Trade, on the Subject of the Trade to Africa, and particularly the
Trade in Slaves, Part 1, Capt. Hall.
! Hart Report, pp. 213-14, Appendix A, Native Court Proclamation, 1902.
 THE SLAVE TRADE AND EFIK POLITICAL HISTORY 43
used for certain office-holders,3 but its Efik meaning is obscure,1
■ and Goldie’s Dictionary, published in 1874 and still the standard
authority on the Efik language, does not mention it. Goldie does
however include edidem, which he describes as a title superior to
obong, denoting one who held absolute power, but which did not
apply to anyone in Calabar, as no one there had such authority.5
By elimination, therefore, obong must have been the term for the civil
authority, and Goldie supports this by defining obong as a principal
ruler or king.0 That obong was the Efik term for the office-holder,
whom the Europeans called the King, is supported by the fact that
when the Henshaw ward attempted to make itself independent in the
1870s by declaring its own king, the latter began to call himself
Obong Henshaw.’ Moreover, when the British in 1902 prohibited
the use of the word king for the Efik civil authority, the term obong
replaced it.8 Identifying obong as the correct name for the Efik civil
authority, strongly supports the hypothesis that the powers of the
Efik civil authority were those of an Ibibio obong isong.’ Far from
having sovereign powers, he was simply the chairman and spokesman
of the village council which dealt with general matters, and foreign
relations.10 If the Europeans thought he was the most important
political figure, it was because he was the person they negotiated
with, in his role of‘minister’ for foreign affairs.

2. The changing location ofpolitical offices

As the wards emerged from the original lineage groups with the
absorption of slaves into Efik society, the location of two of the three
main political offices was affected. Only in the case of the Ndent
priesthood, or Oku Ndem, was there no change. For this position has
always been held by a member of Cobham ward, which is the rem­
nant of the original Ema lineage.11 That there was no change in the
location of this office reflects the fact that the fishing cult declined in
importance as the economic basis of Efik society changed from
3 Forde and Jones, pp. 74-5. 1 Hart Report, paras. 198-202.
3 Goldie, Dictionary, p. 61.
0 Ibid., pp. 3, 527.
7 Agnes Waddel, Memorials of Mrs. Sutherland of Old Calabar (Paisley, 1883),
p. 121, Obong Henshaw to Mrs. Sutherland, 16 Mar. 1878.
8 Hart Report, pp. 213-14.
0 See Chapter 1, p. 13.
10 Jones, ‘Political Organisation’, pp. 126-7. Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years,
p. 314. Hart Report, para. 188.
11 See Chapter 3, p. 33.
44 THE ERA OF THE SLAVE TRADE
fishing to slave trading. The new wards did not seek the priesthood
because it was no longer very important.
By contrast, the position of Obong became increasingly desirable,
as it conferred considerable influence over relations with the Euro­
peans, now so vital to Efik economic life. Originally this office was
the prerogative of the Efiom Ekpo lineage, and the two Obongs Nsa
Efiom and Ekpo Nsa, who succeeded Efiom Ekpo, came from what
is now Henshaw ward, the remnant of the lineage.12 Then Ofiong
Okoho, co-founder of Duke Town, and founder of Eyamba ward,
became Obong. He was followed by his twin brother, co-founder of

Chart 5
Genealogy of Efik Obongs, 1600-1891
Efiom Ekpo(l)
N'sa Efiom (2) H Okoho
I
Ekpo Nsa(3)ll
I
Ofiong Okoho(4)E Efiom Okoho(5) D H = Henshaw ward
E = Eyamba ward
I D = Duke ward
Ekpcnjong Ofiong(8)E E!Ekpo Efiom (6) D
A = Archibong ward
po(7)D Archibong Ekpo
EdemEkpenyong(IO)E Edem Ekpc
Efiom Edcm(9)D Ededem(l2)D' Archibong(I l)A Eyo Archibong(l3)A Edcin Archibong (14) A
Orok Edem(14)I)
Sources: Hart Report, p. 55, para. 158.
Chief Ene Ndem Ephraim Duke, 9 Dec. 1965.
Chief Joseph Henshaw, 6 Dec. 1965, 8 Feb. 1966.
Chief Michael Henshaw, 18 Nov. 1965.

Duke Town, and founder of Duke ward. Thereafter the Obong-ship

has been held by a member of either Eyamba ward or Duke ward or
one of the wards which separated from Duke ward in the nineteenth
and twentieth centuries.13 The re-location of the office in these two
‘illegitimate’14 wards, resulted from their superior business success.
This was due to their living at Duke Town, which placed them in
earlier contact with the Europeans than the Henshaws who were still
at Creek Town.15 Moreover their dubious ancestry may have provided
a spur to their commercial aggressiveness. Accordingly they rapidly
accumulated slaves, which gave them the physical power to press for
the OAong-ship, and being most accustomed to negotiating with the
15 Sec Chapter 3, p. 33-4. 13 See chart 5 above.
“ Sec Chapter 1, p. 9-10. 15 Hart Report, para. 85.
 THE SLAVE TRADE AND EFIK POLITICAL HISTORY 45
Europeans, they also had the practical experience to justify their
demands. This change in the location of the Oftong-ship took place in
the last half of the seventeenth century, for the Europeans began
trading at Old Calabar about the middle of the century. A date close
to the end of the century is suggested by the fact that Ekpenyong
Ofiong, son of Ofiong Okoho, who was the first Duke Town Obong,
was still alive in 18O5.10
The Oiong-ship was not the only office to be re-located in a different
ward. For the £)w»Aa-ship also moved from the ward with which it
was originally connected. The first two Eyambas were from Ambo
ward, for it was the Ambo chief Esien Ekpe Oku who introduced
Ekpe. He was Eyamba I, and he handed the office to his elder brother
Ekpenyong Ekpe Oku, who became Eyamba II.1’ But Ekpenyong
Ekpe Oku’s daughter married Ekpenyong Ofiong of Eyamba ward,
who became Eyamba III on his father-in-law’s death.18 Nearly all
subsequent Eyambas have come from Eyamba ward, with the excep­
tion of three from Duke ward, or its offshoots.10 Indeed it can be said
that, from the late eighteenth century,20 those wards which provided
the Obongs also provided the Eyambas.
A similar change in location occurred in the case of the Ebunko-
ship, the vice-presidency of Ekpe. This also had been held at first by
Esien Ekpe Oku, founder of the society. But on his death it passed
from Ambo ward via his daughter to her husband Eyo Nsa,21 who
was busily establishing a ward of his own despite his dubious
origins.22 All subsequent Ebunkos have come from Eyo ward.23 The
change in the location of the Ebunko-ship took place during the last
quarter of the eighteenth century, for Eyo Nsa was vice-president to
Ekpenyong Ofiong.21

3. Personalities and politics

It has been shown that the Obong-ship became located in Eyamba
and Duke wards, and that the £yo»ifca-ship also became established
in these wards. It was Egbo Young (Ekpenyong Ofiong), son of
Ofiong Okoho, senior founder of Duke Town, who was the first in
these wards to hold the ij’onffiu-ship. First recorded in 1777,25 he
10 Hallett, p. 198. 17 See Chapter 3, p. 36.
18 Hart Report, para. 186. 10 Sec Chart 4 p. 37.
20 See below. 21 Hart Report, para. 186.
23 See below. —
21 j- - .
23 Hart Report, para. 186.
Hallett, pp. 198-9. Duke, ‘Diary’, p. 53,16 Feb. 1787, p. 59, 31 Aug. 1787.
25 Williams,"p. 553.
46 THE ERA OF THE SLAVE TRADE
appears to have been Eyamba in the period of Antera Duke’s Diary,
1785-8, for one entry reads ‘Egbo Young and Willy Honesty dressed
Grandy Ekpe in the palaver house’,20 clearly a reference to a ritual
performed by the two senior officers of the society. And he received
the largest share of an entry fee described in another note.27 The many
references to him in the Diary reveal his importance in Efik affairs
in these years,28 and after the death of Duke Ephraim (Edem Ekpo)
in 1786,20 he became Obong. For in 1805 Nicholls described him as
‘principal chief and trader’,30 who was ‘obliged to entertain all
strangers, and, if required, give them his protection’.31 This obligation
was clearly that of the Obong in his role as spokesman for foreign
affairs. Nicholls describes him at this time. ‘Egbo Young Eyambo is
between sixty and seventy, five feet ten inches high, very corpulent,
and rather a commanding deportment; he appears a little disfigured
by large bony excrescences upon his knees and elbows; he has a small
nose and a large mouth, and all together has rather a pleasant
countenance.’32
He died during the second decade of the nineteenth century, for his
successor was in office by 1820.
Egbo Young’s chief rival was Willy Honesty (Eyo Nsa). There is
no agreed genealogy for him,33 which suggests he was of outside
origin.34 He was a great warrior,35 and played a leading role in the
battle of 1767 by which Old Town was virtually excluded from the
European trade.30 Indeed he is remembered as a national hero, who
defeated the pirates of Mbiakong at the mouth of Ikpa Creek, who
had constantly harried the Efik trade-canoes.37 It was in recognition
of this victory that the Ambo chief Esien Ekpe Oku, founder of Ekpe,
gave his daughter to Honesty in marriage, thereby conferring freedom
Duke, 'Diary' p. 53,16 Feb. 1787. *’ Ibid., p. 59, 31 Aug. 1787.
Duke, ‘Diary’ p. 27, 25 Jan. 1785, p. 28, 5 Feb. 1785, p. 29, 6 Mar. 1785,
7 Mar. 1785, p. 35, 29 June 1785, pp. 36-7, 4, 14, 29, and 30 Aug. 1785, p. 40,
23 Oct. 1785, p. 41, 25 and 30 Dec. 1785, p. 43, 8 Feb. 1786, p. 46, 9 June 1786,
p. 49, 26 Oct. 1786, pp. 52-3, 1 and 24 Jan. 1787.
=■ Duke, 'Diary', p. 46, 4 June 1786. ” Hallett, p. 198.
11 Ibid., p. 208. •’ Ibid., p. 199.
” Hart Report, paras. 281-6.
31 Ibid., p. 128, para. 285. Chief Thomas A. Efiom, M.O.N., 7 Dec. 1965.
33 Hallett, p. 199.
“P.P. 1790 (699), Ixxxviii, Minutes of Evidence taken before the Select
Committee appointed for the Examination of Witnesses on the Slave Trade,
p. 386, Mr. George Millar. D. Simmons, ‘An Ethnographic Sketch of the Efik
People', in Forde, pp. 67-8, note 14.
” Hart Report, para. 287.
 THE SLAVE TRADE AND EFIK POLITICAL HISTORY 47
upon him.38 Active in trade,39 Honesty established a ward of his
own making in Creek Town, and was able to assume the Ebunko-ship
through his wife on her father’s death.10 This took place after the
battle with Old Town in 1767,41 and before 1785, for in Antera
Duke’s Diary he appears as second in importance in Ekpe to Egbo
Young?2 The numerous other references to Willy Honesty in the
Diary show how great his influence was at that time.'13 In 1805 he was
described by Nicholls Tn person the king of Ebongo is about six
feet high, with an extreme good natured negro countenance, has a
very commanding deportment, and is a very great warrior.’41 But
between then and his death in 1820,45 Ekpe was invoked against him,
forcing him to pay an enormous fine which ‘chopped him all to
nothing’.40 The cause of this attack is not revealed, but the most
likely interpretation is that he had tried to establish Creek Town as an
independent village, as his son Eyo Honesty II did in the late 1830s,
and as the Henshaw ward attempted later in the century. The ad­
vantage he would have gained by so doing would have been direct
control over relations with the Europeans, unbiased by Duke Town
interests.
Willy Honesty had good cause to try and escape the strangle-hold
over foreign relations held by Duke Town, for at Duke Town a
younger and more powerful commercial rival was emerging, who was
to monopolize commerce and political offices until 1834. Egbo Young
and Willy Honesty had dominated Efik politics since the death of
Duke Ephraim in 1786. But his son, also known as Duke Ephraim
(Efiom Edem), turned his attention to trade, and by 1805 was ‘by far
the greatest trader’,4’ although Egbo Young and Willy Honesty were
still in office. He was then ‘. .. a very elegant formed young man, six
feet high, with a very expressive countenance, and his skin is rather
blacker than the Calabar people in general.’48 It has been said that
48 Ibid.
” Duke, ‘Diary’, p. 29,12 Mar. 1785, p. 33, 9 June 1785, p. 46, 23 June 1786.
p. 60, 26 Sept. 1787.
80 Hart Report, para. 287. 11 Chief Etim Hogan Etim, 21 Jan. 1966.
41 Duke, ‘Diary*, p. 53, 16 Feb. 1787, p. 59, 31 Aug. 1787.
“ Duke, ‘Diary’, p. 27, 25 Jan. 1785, pp. 29-30, 12 Mar. 1785, p. 31, 14 May
1785, p. 33, 8 and 9 June 1785, p. 41,25 Dec. 1785, p. 46, 23 June 1786, pp. 47-8,
4 Sept. 1786, p. 49, 19 Oct. 1786, p. 52, 24 Dec. 1786, pp. 52-3, 24 Jan. 1787,
p. 53, 2 Feb. 1787,16 Feb. 1787, p. 54, 22 Feb. 1787, p. 55, 24 Mar. 1787,16 Apr.
1787, p. 57, 25 July 1787, p. 59, 31 Aug. 1787, p. 61, 9 and 22 Oct. 1787, p. 63,
25 Dec. 1787, p. 64, 8 Jan. 1788.
« Hallett, p. 199. 45 Crow, p. 280. •• Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 310.
•’ Hallett, p. 199. Hallett, p. 199.
48 THE ERA OF THE SLAVE TRADE
Duke Ephraim took office in 1814,19 but there is no proof of this,
and Robertson states in his book published in 1819 that he was not
King.59 Yet from Bold it is clear that he had become Obong prior to
Willy Honesty’s death in 1820.51 Not only Obong, he was also
Eyamba, as was his predecessor, for he signed a letter as Duke
Ephraim Eyambo in 1821.52 But unlike Egbo Young, he had no
great rival such as Willy Honesty, who was now dead. Consequently
his dominance was unchallenged, and he set about consolidating and
extending his vast power. This is revealed in the changes in the comey
distribution. In the past these dues had been made direct to the men
with whom the Europeans traded, usually the ward head.53 And as
late as the second decade of the nineteenth century this was so, for
Bold gives a list of twelve traders to whom comey had to be paid,
noting that there were others who no longer received comey because
they had ceased trading. It is clear that Duke Ephraim received most
comey, and Willy Honesty had the next largest share, the comey
being proportionate to the amount of business a trader furnished.51
When Honesty died, Duke Ephraim was left as far and away the
most important trader and receiver of comey. So the Europeans
refused to pay comey to anyone but him. The oil traders led this
movement, but the slavers presumably followed their example, for
the Duke ‘had nearly the whole of the Slave trade in his hands’.55
So it was that by 1828 Duke Ephraim was Obong, Eyamba, sole
comey recipient, and virtual monopolist of the external trade. To
reinforce this position he was settling large numbers of slaves in the
newly discovered agricultural district to the east of Duke Town,
known as Akpabuyo.50 These slaves formed a reserve of retainers,
the physical reality of his power. He was the most influential man in
Efik history.

* Nair, pp. 51-2.

Robertson, p. 313.
„ Bold, pp. 76, 79.
, EPhraim Eyambo to Collier, 9 Apr. 1821, in Collier to Croker, 16
Apr. 1821, FO84/14.
‘Diary’ p- 33' 8 and 9 June 1785’ P- 36> 23 July 1785’ P- 46- 23 June
‘‘ BoW p277May 1787’ P' 601 26 SCPt' 1787’ P’ 621 25 °Ct' 1787‘
18281CO828t"i8lCy’Pcport on old Ca'abar River, in Owen to Croker, 21 Feb.
23 NnJ“ifof;Ekpcnyon8’ M.B.E., 1 Dec. 1965. Chief Ene Ndem Ephraim Duke,
19 Jan 1966 ^*c^®runo ^a» 30 Nov. 1965. Chief Maurice Efana Archibong,
 THE SLAVE TRADE AND EFIK POLITICAL HISTORY 49
4. Efik subjection of other Cross River peoples
If the tendency within the Efik state was towards the emergence of
a dominant ward, which gained control of the European trade, a
similar process was taking place in relation to neighbouring tribes.
For the Efik excluded all other peoples from direct access to the
Europeans, establishing and maintaining a position as monopolistic
middlemen.
The people of Old Town, who had separated from the original
Efik settlement at Creek Town even before the establishment of Duke
Town, had participated in the slave trade and prospered. But such
was the rivalry between them and their cousins at Creek Town and
Duke Town, that in 1767 what has been called the ‘Massacre of Old
Calabar’ took place. Six British ships lay in the river, but as Old Town
and Duke Town were in arms, trade was at a standstill. So the
captains made a secret pact with the chiefs of Duke Town, to invite
the Old Town chiefs on board in a pretence at mediation. But as
soon as the Old Town chiefs arrived, they were seized and chained,
their canoes fired upon, and their men butchered by the Duke Town
people who emerged from hiding. It is said that about 300 people
were killed in this treacherous action.57 Further attacks were made
upon a greatly weakened Old Town during the next thirty years,58
and by 1805 Old Town was of little importance.™
Another group which was excluded was the Ebreros, whom it is
difficult to identify, and may have just been an unsuccessful ward
which dwindled away. Barbot refers to a King Ebrero in 1698, who
supplied provisions,00 and in 1765 Isaac Parker, an English seaman,
went on a slaving expedition with a chief called Dick Ebro’.01 Some
57 Williams, pp. 535-9.
P.P. 1789 (646), Ixxxiv, Papers received . . . on . . . Trade to Africa, Part 1,
Capt. Hall. P.P. 1790 (698), Ixxxvii, Minutes of the Evidence ... on the Slave
Trade, pp. 515-17, 527-9, 537-8, 557-8, Capt. J. A. Hall, pp. 633-6, Capt.
Ambrose Lace. P.P. 1790. Vol. 88 (699) Minutes of the Evidence ... on the Slave
Trade, pp. 385-7, George Millar.
Abridgement (London, 1789-91), ii. 206-7, 212, 218-19, 244-5, iii. 155-6.
Chief Thomas A. Efiom, M.O.N., 7 Dec. 1965. Chief E. Ekpenyong, M.B.E.,
1 Dec. 1965. Etubom A. E. Archibong, Chief Oko Efiom Asiya, Chief Etim Otu
Bassey, Chief Antigha Efefiom, Chief Efiom Obo Effanga, Chief Otu Otu
Efiiom, 14 Feb. 1966.
s' Williams, pp. 543-4, cit. Grandy King George to Lace, 13 Jan. 1773, Hallett,
pp. 204-5.
" Hallett, p. 206. •’ Barbot, p. 465.
01 P.P. 1790 (699), Ixxxviii, Minutes of the Evidence ... on the Slave Trade,
pp. 133-4, Isaac Parker.
 50 THE era of the slave trade
twenty years later Antera Duke mentions a Dick Ebrow,02 although
the fact that there is only one reference to him suggests that he was
not important. Eyo Ebrow’s son was Antera Duke’s cabin boy.03
But as there are no more references to the Ebreros after this time,
they must have been driven from the trade or become extinct.
The Qua were also excluded from the trade. Duke records that
they were active in the slave trade in 1785,01 and Bold notes that the
King of Qua was entitled to comey during the second decade of the
nineteenth century.05 However, at the time that comey was re­
3 organized under Duke Ephraim, they lost their claim and were not
r to have direct contact with the Europeans again until after 1878.
e But it was not only these adjacent communities which were cut off
u from the Europeans by the Efik. For the list of chiefs from whom
a
provisions were bought in 1698 according to Barbot, included
E ‘William King Agbisherca’00 and ‘Robin King Agbisherea’,07 clearly
v Ibibio chiefs, for Egbosherry was the name for Ibibioland until the
E late nineteenth century.00 Yet the Ibibio were excluded from the
I
trade during the eighteenth century, and the battles with the up-river
1 tribes, which are traditionally associated with Eyo Honesty’s military
prowess, represent the culmination of this process
, Ba,rb°‘ a'S° 7fefrSTin 16J!8 t0 a "caPta*n Thomas, at Salt-Town,’00
clearly the chief of Tom Shotts, at the eastern side of the estuary.70
They were prevented from trading with the Eur at an early
date, for in 180 Nicholls describes them as ‘having no communi-

“ S"? ~
European boats and ‘used to seize occasional,y attaakfd
whites he could lay hold of’.72 Ante’, r~? roast and devour a 1 e
in his diary.73 These incursions wpJZ ,6 records such an atta<ik
years of Duke Ephraim’s reign Fn ?a Prevented in the early
people attacked and killed the matZ’ a?out ^21, the Tom Shotts
Canning."1 In response, aided by s Some kan(^s of the George
attacked and defeated them.75 Onie English seamen, the Duke
“ Duke, ‘Diary’, p. 33, 17 June 178s
“ Ibid., p. 28, 30 Jan. 1787. ” Ibid., p 61 3 Oct. 1787.
•• Barbot, p. 465. •• Bold, p 77’
" Bold, p. 78. Waddell, Tw'nty-Nine y « Ibid. ’
■^otnp,C465DUke'S P S“
’• SS':Dia p. 38. 27 SCeptW’17P85 71'7' S1"’"10"5’ ‘N°,CS’’ 65“’
’* Collier to Croker, 16 Apr. 1821, FO 84/14
75 Crow, p. 271.
 THE SLAVE TRADE AND EFIK POLITICAL HISTORY 51
About the time that Duke Ephraim conquered Tom Shotts, he also
closed the Rio del Rey to the European trade. This place had been a
minor trading place since Barbot’s time,76 and a long standing Efik
sphere of influence.77 But Ephraim forbade the Europeans to trade
there because of the occasional attacks by pirates.78
Thus it can be said that the slave trade caused the emergence of
wards from the original lineages, as their compounds absorbed
slaves, and it was those wards most successful in trade which ex­
panded fastest because they accumulated most retainers. Certain
wards grew more quickly than others, for the Europeans traded and
gave credit to those who paid their debts promptly and honestly.
In the course of time, bad debtors lost their access to credit, and only
the credit-worthy were supported. The more trust they were allowed,
the bigger their organizations and reserves became, and the more they
were able to justify being given further credit. Paradoxically, it was
the three least legitimate wards, Eyamba ward, Duke ward, and Eyo
ward, who prospered and became most powerful, no doubt driven to
achieve commercial success by the insecurity conferred by their
dubious ancestry. Consequently, during the last quarter of the
eighteenth century, they demanded and received the leading political
offices in Calabar. The deaths of the heads of Eyamba ward and Eyo
ward, during the second decade of the nineteenth century, left Duke
ward in a dominant position under the leadership of the exceptionally
able Duke Ephraim, who was both Obong and Eyamba, besides sole
collector of comey, and virtual monopolizer of the external trade.
His profits he used to expand Duke ward still further, using the newly
discovered Akpabuyo territory to settle the slaves he bought. Extern­
ally, he completed the task of consolidating the Efik monopoly of
trade, by excluding all other tribes from direct contact with the
Europeans, a process which had been progressing steadily during the
eighteenth century. His supremely dominant position was therefore
the logical culmination of the processes set in motion by the slave
trade. But it was a position never to recur again in Efik history.
70 Barbot, p. 384.
77 E. Ardcner, ‘Documentary and Linguistic Evidence for the Rise of the
Trading Politics between Rio del Rey and Camcroons, 1500-1650’, in I. M.
Lewis, (cd.), History and Social Anthropology (London, 1968).
78 Collier, Report on the Coast of Africa, 27 Dec. 1821, FO84/19.

E
 PART 2
The Era of the Palm-Oil Trade
 CHAPTER 5
The Palm-Oil Trade at Old Calabar

This chapter will discuss the evolution of the palm-oil trade at Old
Calabar from a subsidiary of the slave trade to the main export
business, and its growth up to 1891 when the imposition of tariffs
by the British altered the conditions under which trade took place.
As Old Calabar was the first palm-oil port, this chapter will help to
test the generalizations commonly made about the development of
the trade.

1. The rise and development of the external palm-oil trade

Although palm oil became the staple of the West African trade
from Sierra Leone to the Cameroons as slaving declined, it had been
purchased by the Europeans as early as 1522.1 During the slave
trade, oil was bought for food on the middle passage,2 and as is shown
on Table 3, small but increasing quantities were imported at Liver­
pool from 1772. Table 4 indicates that after 1790 when 125 tons
were imported, British oil imports increased slowly until 1806 when
361 tons came in. Already Liverpool merchants were instructing their
captains to buy oil.3 With the abolition of the slave trade in 1807,
a dramatic increase in oil exports occurred, with steady growth until
the middle years of the century, at which point the figures cease.
Old Calabar led the expansion of the oil trade. In the 1770s oil
was bought there,1 and Antera Duke apparently noted two ships
taking away oil, 1785-6.5 Adams refers to a considerable trade there in
oil in the last years of the slave trade, but there is nothing to support

1 Alan Ryder, Benin and the Europeans 1485-1897 (London, 1969), p. 56.
Richard Hakluyt, The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques & Discoveries
of the English Nation (Glasgow, 1904), vi. 457, 467.
2 P.P. 1790 (698), Ixxxvii, Minutes of the Evidence ... on the Slave Trade,
p. 518, Capt. J. A. Hall.
3 Messrs. Leyland to Captain Charles Kneale of Ship Lottery, 21 May 1802,
Liverpool K.f. 96. Messrs. Thos. Leyland to Caesar Lawson of the Enterprise,
18 July 1803, Liverpool K.f. 96.
1 P.P. 1790 (698), Ixxxvii, Minutes of Evidence ... on the Slave Trade, p. 526,
Capt. J. A. Hall.
3 Duke, ‘Diary’ p. 40, 14 Dec. 1785, p. 42, 22 Jan. 1786.
58 THE ERA OF THE PALM-OIL TRADE
stiff competition continued from other firms,14 which still entered
the trade.15
The oil traders also had to face the competition of the slave traders
until 1841, both Beecroft10 and Nicolls1’ reporting how the arrival of
slavers in the river brought the oil trade to a halt, as it did else­
where on the coast.18 So heated was the antagonism between the two
groups that in 1828 an officer of the Kent was shot by a French
slaver.19
As the number of oil ports increased from the 1830s, the decision
to trade at Old Calabar in preference to other ports was largely
determined by the supercargo’s reading of current market conditions.
Eleven different firms traded at Calabar 1847-51, six in 1847, five in
1848, three in 1849, six in 1850, and five in 1851. Only Horsfall &
Sons were present in each of these years, and all the firms were
Liverpool-based except one from Amsterdam whose ship came in
1851.20 In 1855 six firms traded at Old Calabar, of which two had
not traded there during 1847-51.21 This speculative nature of the
trade contributed to its competitiveness, for the fact that different
firms traded each year made it difficult for buyers’ rings to form.
In March 1854 the introduction of the monthly mail-steamer
brought a new form of competition,22 which ultimately revolution­
ized the trading system. Whereas previously the supercargoes had
given out trust, and in return accumulated oil as they lay in the river
for months, now produce could be shipped immediately to Britain
on the steamer. So it became absurd to send a vessel to the coast to
lie there for the season, with the crew under-employed and contracting
the innumerable coastal diseases. Under that system, fixed capital in
the form of the ship lay idle for months, and trading capital was also
11 Owen to Croker, 5 Nov. 1828, CO82/2. Landers, iii. 329. Crow, pp. 284-5.
15 Lee Trotman to Backhouse, 13 Mar. 1840, FO84/342.
10 P.P. 1850 (53), ix, QQ 3406-7, Capt. John Bcacroft [s/c].
17 Nicolls to Hay, 28 Oct. 1833, CO82/6. Nicolls to Hay, 4 June 1835, CO82/8.
18 P.P. 1842, (551), xii, (1) Part 2, Appendix No. 3, Commissioners Report.
The Palm Oil Trade. P.P. 1847-8, (272), xxii (1), 1st Report, QQ 2614-18, Wm.
Hutton.
18 Cummins to Badgley, 26 Jan. 1828, CO82/1.
80 P.P. 1850 (53), ix, Minutes of Evidence before Select Committee on the
African Slave Trade, QQ 3143, R. Dawson cit. John Clare. P.P. 1852 (284), xlix,
Correspondence Relating to the Conveyance of H.M. Mails to the West Coast of
Africa, John Clare to Admiralty, 16 Dec. 1851.
81 List of Vessels laying in the River Old Calabar on 17 Oct. 1855, Inc. 6 in
Lynslagcrto Clarendon, 31 Oct. 1855, FO84/975.
Marwick, p.
8 Marwick, 296.
n. 296.
 THE PALM-OIL TRADE AT OLD CALABAR 59
tied up over long periods. All that was to be necessary in future was a
hulk or cask-house, and a buying agent with some local hands. Wage
bills were cut to a minimum, capital costs reduced, and speed of
turnover greatly increased.
So it was that after March 1854 newcomers entered the trade from
which they had been previously excluded by their Jack of initial
capital. Exploiting the possibilities of rapid turnover, they operated
on a lower cost-schedule than the old firms, whose prices they were
able to undercut. The days of the sailing ship and supercargo were
numbered, but faced with the probability of heavy loss, the estab­
lished firms were not prepared to go under without a struggle.
Yet contrary to Dike’s view, which echoes that of Consul Living­
stone, the rivalry which ensued was not simply a struggle between a
monopolistic group, and intruding competitors.23 For competition
under the old system had been intense. Rather it was a conflict be­
tween a group of traders on one kind of cost-schedule, within which
limits they were highly competitive, and another group of traders
operating on a much lower cost-schedule made possible by techno­
logical advance. While it was inevitable that the old-style traders
should lose in the long run, it was only natural that they should use
whatever means that were at their disposal to attack their upstart
competitors.
The first to seize the opportunities offered by the mail services were
liberated Africans from Sierra Leone who came to Old Calabar on
the early steamers, and began to ship oil to Britain.21 By October
1855, ten ships lay in the river, only four of which had been there less
than 10 months, the rest having been there 10, 12, 14, 17, 18, and 20
months respectively25 This was because King Eyo II, the leading oil
trader, had not supplied the oil for which he had taken trust, but was
selling his oil to Peter Nicholls, a liberated African from Sierra
Leone,20 who had settled at Creek Town.27 Eyo’s son, and Black
Davis, an important Duke Town trader, had been seized and
imprisoned on board ship according to the traditional fashion of
23 Dike, pp. 114-15, cit. Livingstone to Stanley, 1 Oct. 1866, FO2/47.
21 Hutchinson to Clarendon, 29 Sept. 1856, F084/1001.
26 List of Vessels laying in the River Old Calabar, Inc. 6 in Lynslager to
Clarendon, 31 Oct. 1855, FO84/975.
20 Journal of Proceedings, in Lynslager to Clarendon, 31 Oct. 1855, FO84/975.
C. Fyfe, ‘Peter Nicholls—Old Calabar and Freetown’, J.H.S.N. vol. 2, no. 1,
(Dec. 1960), pp. 105 etc.
27 Lynslagcr to Cuthbertson, 5 Nov. 1855, in Hutchinson to Clarendon,
12 Mar. 1856, F084/1001.
60 THE ERA OF THE PALM-OIL TRADE
forcing debts to be paid, without much effect.28 So in November,
16 puncheons of Nicholls’s oil were seized as they lay on the beach
awaiting the steamer, by Captain Cuthbertson, who considered him­
self to have a prior claim to the oil, having given Eyo credit.20
This dispute set the scene for the turmoil which developed in the
next few years between the supercargoes and those shipping on the
steamers. Fundamentally, the supercargoes argued that the Elik
must liquidate their existing trust debts before selling to the new­
comers. But the Elik, supported by the new arrivals, insisted that
although trust must eventually be honoured, there was no time-limit
by which point debts must be paid, and that in the meantime they
might sell to whom they wished. In practice this meant that the Elik
were using the supercargoes’ trust to purchase oil inland, which
was then sold to the Sierra Leoneans, while they were paying off
trust little by little.30
In May 1856 Captain Davies seized oil belonging to Daniel Hedd,
another Sierra Leonean,31 and in July, Antica Ambo was seized for
debt.32 Nevertheless, by October, ten ships were lying in the river,
with trust out for 9,030 tons of oil, although recent annual production
had been only 4,500 tons.33 Six of the ships had been held up since
at least the previous November,31 and of these, Captain Davies’s
ships had been there for two years.35 What is surprising is that since
November, four ships had arrived and given trust despite the situ­
ation. It appears, therefore, that the supercargoes were hoping to
defeat the Sierra Leoneans by giving trust, and insisting that the
Efik repay it before trading with the newcomers.30 Traders who did
not do so were imprisoned, and any oil about to be put aboard the
M Journal of Proceedings in Lynsiager to Clarendon, 31 Oct. 1855, FO84/975.
Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 566.
" Nicolls to Lynsiager, 2 Nov. 1855, in Hutchinson to Clarendon, 12 Mar.
1856, F084/1001.
30 Davies to Hutchinson, 13 Oct. 1856, in Hutchinson to Clarendon, 1 Nov.
1856, FO84/10D1.
31 Hedd to Hutchinson, 21 May 1856, in Hutchinson to Clarendon, 24 June
1856, F084/1001.
31 King Eyo to Hutchinson, 25 July 1856, in Hutchinson to Clarendon, 28 July
1856, ST 97. F084/1001.
33 Davies to Hutchinson, 13 Oct. 1856, in Hutchinson to Clarendon, 1 Nov.
1856, F084/1001.
31 List of Vessels laying in the River Old Calabar, Inc. 6, in Lynslagcr to
Clarendon, 31 Oct. 1855, FO84/975.
33 Davies to Hutchinson, 13 Oct. 1856, in Hutchinson to Clarendon, 1 Nov.
1856, F084/1001.
36 Board of Trade to Earl Shelborne, 16 Nov. 1857, BT 1/545/1794.
 THE PALM-OIL TRADE AT OLD CALABAR 61
mail steamer was seized. This resort to direct action was facilitated
by the Foreign Office’s statement on the Nicholls affair that super­
cargoes were not accountable in English law for their actions in
Calabar to Sierra Leoneans and others who were beyond the juris­
diction of English law. While such actions were disapproved of,
the only influence the Consul had was his ‘good offices’.37 In January
1857, Mr. Hearn seized oil belonging to James Haddison,38 a mission
employee from Jamaica.39 So the supercargoes won the initial skir­
mish, for Nicholls had returned to Sierra Leone in disgust,40 and
Hedd and Haddison had lost their oil.
But in 1857 the situation took a turn against the supercargoes. The
Olinda from Liverpool arrived in the river chartered by King Eyo
II.41 Despite Eyo’s agreeing to liquidate his debts before loading the
Olinda*- she sailed fully loaded in July.43 Meanwhile Eyo continued
to ship oil via his steward, on the mail boats,44 and in June 1857 two
Scotsmen, Mr. Inglis and Mr. Smith, arrived to begin shipping oil on
the steamers, taking up residence at the Mission.45 Being British
subjects, they could not be treated by the supercargoes with the
impunity relied on in the case of the Sierra Leoneans.
In 1858 the situation became even worse for the supercargoes,
for the Olinda returned,40 and both Efik Kings died, King Duke of
Duke Town on 11 August,47 and King Eyo II, still greatly in debt,
on 3 December.48 Within a few weeks, a fire destroyed King Eyo’s
palace and out-houses, making it unlikely his debts would ever be
paid.49

37 Clarendon to Hutchinson, 21 May 1856, F084/1001.

38 Haddison to Hutchinson, 30 Jan. 1857, in Hutchinson to Clarendon,
20 Feb. 1857, ST 10, F084/1030.
39 Hutchinson to Clarendon, 20 Aug. 1857, ST 47, F084/1030.
40 Nicolls to Cuthbertson, 15 Apr. 1856, in Hutchinson to Clarendon, 24 June
1856, F084/1001.
41 Supercargoes to Hutchinson, 19 Apr. 1857, in Hutchinson to Clarendon,
29 Apr. 1857, ST 23, F084/1030.
43 Hutchinson to Clarendon, 29 Apr. 1857, ST 23, F084/1030.
43 Hutchinson to Clarendon, 20 Aug. 1857, ST 46, F084/1030. Supercargoes to
Hutchinson, 25 July 1857, in Hutchinson to Clarendon, 31 Aug. 1857, ST 50,
F084/I030.
44 Supercargoes to Hutchinson, 25 July 1857.
45 Ibid. Smith and Inglis to Hutchinson (undated), in Hutchinson to Malmes­
bury, 24 May 1858, ST 21, FO84/1061.
40 Deposition of Mr. Michael Hearn, 2 Mar. 1858, in Hutchinson to Malmes­
bury, 25 May 1858, ST 22, FO84/1061.
47 Marwick p. 3 74. 48 Ibid., p. 376. Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 646.
49 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 644.
62 THE ERA OF THE PALM-OIL TRADE
By 1859 the situation was desperate. Tyson and Richmond sent
one ship home empty because it was going rotten after lingering
two and a half years. Michael Hearn, one of their supercargoes,
seized Adam Archibong, a leading Efik debtor.60 When Hearn’s
brother William, who also worked for Tyson and Richmond, arrived
in the autumn, his ship was banned by the new King, who was Adam
Archibong’s brother.61 Such was the resulting bitterness between the
supercargoes that Mr. Cheetham of Horsfall’s62 suggested to his
merchants that Consul Hutchinson had accepted bribes from the
Hearns.53 This accounted for his connivance at the imprisonment of
Adam Archibong, which had led to a total stoppage of trade,51 and
his refusal to recognize John Archibong as King until the ban on
William Hearn’s ship was removed.55 A full Foreign Office enquiry
was made into these accusations,56 and although Dike and Nair have
said that Hutchinson was found guilty and removed from office,57
he in fact successfully defended himself against the bribery charge.58
He was translated from Fernando Po merely for showing a lack of
judgement and discretion, and far from being dismissed he was later
Consul at Callao.50
Hutchinson’s departure made no difference to the problems of the
supercargoes, for in 1861 Stuart and Douglas alone were owed 1,000
tons of oil.00 However many such debts must have been written off,
for in April 1862 the price of oil in Britain plummetted. The super­
cargoes met, and decided to reduce the price they were prepared to
offer. The Efik refused to accept the new prices, and stopped all
trade.61
With the drastic fall in prices, many Liverpool firms cut their losses,
and stopped trading at Calabar. By 1864, only three Liverpool firms
10 Hearn to Hutchinson, 1 Mar. 1859, in Hutchinson to Malmesbury, ST 12
FO84/1087.
11 Hutchinson to Russell, 25 Jan. 1860, ST 1, FO84/1117.
53 F.O. to Hutchinson, 4 Sept. 1860, FO84/1117.
53 Hutchinson to Russell, 12 Sept. 1860, FO84/1117.
M Archibong to supercargoes, 28 Feb. 1859, in Hutchinson to Malmesbury,
21 Mar. 1859, ST 12, FO 84/1087.
33 Hutchinson to Russell, 25 Jan. 1860, FO84/1117.
33 F.O. to Hutchinson, 4 Sept. 1860, FO84/1117.
47 Diko n 174 Mtiir n 774
19 F.O.’internal Memo,’sgd’‘W’, 18 Sept. 1860, FO84/1117.
59 African Times, 28 Mar. 1874, p. 34.
co Stuart and Douglas to Russell, 2 Jan. 1861, Calprof 54/9/13 Enugu.
01 Supercargoes to Burton, 28 Apr. 1862, in Burton to Russell, 22 May 1862,
No. 16, FO84/1176.
 THE PALM-OIL TRADE AT OLD CALABAR 63
were still trading there, Horsfall & Co., Stuart & Douglas, and Tyson,
Richmond, and Jones. Three Glasgow firms had now entered the
river, Walker, Scott & Co., Hamilton & Co., and Taylor, Laughland
& Co. And there was the Company of African Merchants, and the
Amsterdam firm of Messrs. Trankranem, making eight houses in all.
But the supercargoes had gone, and each house now operated through
an agent who lived aboard a hulk, with a cask-house on the beach.62
It was the fall in prices in 1862 which finally dealt the death blow
to the supercargo system. Once the high prices of the crisis years
1854-62 had gone, it was no longer economic to maintain the old
capital expensive way of trading, and those firms who wished to
remain in business had to adopt the agent system. Some firms were
forced out of the trade altogether. Yet the switch to the agent
system did not mean the trade became less competitive; on the
contrary new firms entered the market, and as many traded as be­
fore. However, the development of the agent system did spell death
to the hopes of the liberated Africans, for the agents could now
operate as cheaply, and had far bigger capital resources behind
them.
Nevertheless the supremacy of the steamship was not complete,
many of the trading companies still using their own sailing ships
to collect oil from their agents.63 This more efficient use of their
own ships enabled them to compete with the steamships. But
the late sixties saw a decline of the sailing ship and the victory of
steam, particularly after the West African Mail Company started a
fortnightly service in 1866.°* In 1869 another steamship line began
operations in Calabar, resulting in five steamships a month, and
reduced freight rates.66 As a result trading ships virtually ceased to
come to Calabar,66 and only the occasional sailing ship with a coarse
and cheap cargo was to be seen in the early seventies.67
Although prices paid for palm oil in Britain improved in the late
sixties with the increasing use of oil as a flux in the tinplate industry,
business apparently remained poor for the traders. In September
1869 John Holt noted in his diary that ‘The losses of all concerned
62 Burton to Russell, 15 Apr. 1864, FO84/122L
02 Livingstone to Stanley, 1 Oct. 1866, FO2/47.
“ Ibid.
15 P.P. 1873, Ixv (1), Africa, West Coast, Old Calabar, Report by Consul
Livingstone on the Trade and Commerce of Old Calabar for the Year 1872.
00 Livingstone to Clarendon, 3 Dec. 1869, No. 36, FO84/1308.
07 Undated Memorandum, signed Livingstone, FO84/1343,
64 THE ERA OF THE PALM-OIL TRADE
in the palm oil trade have been large this year.’68 Although oil was
plentiful at Old Calabar in 1870,69 the early seventies in general were
poor years for the European merchants, as there was excessive
competition between the old houses, and newly arrived traders
with limited capital, working for themselves.70 There were two of
these new men in Calabar in 1871, D. J. B. Jansen and George Watts,
the latter playing an important role in Calabar affairs during the next
few years. They faced the competition of eight other houses, four
from Liverpool and three from Glasgow.71 So intense was compe­
tition that in 1874 the Old Calabar Chamber of Commerce sought
the help of the African Association in Liverpool in making an agree­
ment to reduce prices, as the numerous previous attempts had always
failed.72 So bad was the situation that McCoskry and Greer had
already decided to withdraw from the trade and sell their hulk.73
Connected to this intense competition in Old Calabar was the
opening of the kernel trade in 1869, probably due to the enterprise of
Captain J. B. Walker,71 an agent, who visited the oil-producing
villages with a missionary, and persuaded them to start supplying
kernels. These were now in demand in Europe for the newly developed
manufacture of margarine.76 But the Efik banned the kernel trade
in 1872, as it was causing a glut of European goods at the markets,
depressing their exchange value to the disadvantage of the oil
middlemen.76 It was not until 1874 that Consul Hartley was able to
persuade the Efik Chiefs to re-open the kernel trade.77
The attempt to form a price ring in 1874 must have been un­
successful, for in 1883 W. Tyrer, an agent, sought an agreement over
prices for bad oil and short measures, because agreement for a
general price-reduction could not be made.78 But late in 1883 there
was a sudden price rise in Britain, which provoked such rivalry on the
coast that the merchants had to instruct their agents to reduce prices
•' Cecil R. Holt, (ed.), The Diary ofJohn Holt (Liverpool, 1948), p. 149.
” Livingstone to Clarendon, 10 June 1870, FO84/1326.
70 P.P. 1873, Ixv (1), Report by Consul Livingstone.
’* Agents and Merchants to Hopkins, 25 July 1871, Calprof Ibadan, 4/1 vol. 2.
73 Old Calabar Chamber of Commerce to African Association, 30 Nov. 1874,
Calprof Ibadan, 4/3 vol. 2.
73 Walker to Hartley, 28 Sept. 1874, Calprof Ibadan, 4/1 vol. 3.
71 UPCMR N.S. 2 (1 July, 1869), 398, citing Dr. Robb.
75 Allan McPhee, The Economic Revolution in British West Africa (London,
1926), pp. 34-5.
74 P.P. 1873, Ixv, 1, Report by Consul Livingstone.
■” Hartley to Granville, 20 Mar. 1874, No. 6, FO84/1401.
74 Tyrer to Owen, 1 Feb. 1883, Calprof Ibadan 3/2.
 THE PALM-OIL TRADE AT OLD CALABAR 65
in order to maintain a profit margin.” So at long last an agreement
was made in Old Calabar to hold prices down.80 New price lists were
issued to all agents on 27 December, and a meeting was called for the
next day to make an agreement on gauge and dirty oil.81
Under the agreement, produce was divided according to the capital
each firm had invested in the river. Of the 8 shares, Taylor, Laughland
& Co. received 1-J, Thomas Harrison & Co. 1J, British and Conti­
nental African Co. 1|, R. & W. King 1}, Stuart & Douglas 1},
and George Watts -J. Some parallels can be seen between this division
and the proportion of estimated capital investment each later handed
to the African Association, Laughlands giving £17,734, British and
Continental £18,470, Kings £14,582, Harrisons £13,772, Stuarts
£7,735, and Watts £8,962. The validity of this division is shown by
each firm’s exports in 1883, for, out of a total of 7,365 tons, Harrisons
exported 2,000 tons, Laughlands 1,600 tons, British and Continental
1,226 tons, Kings 1,439 tons, and Watts 450 tons.82
But it was soon apparent that agents were circumventing the pool,
and Harrisons’ agent broke the price agreement by making a secret
pact with some Efik traders. The original agreement therefore was
revised to become a quota arrangement with prices no longer
restricted. This second agreement only lasted from May 1886 to
February 1888, for when Miller Brothers established themselves in
Calabar in 1887 all pretence of combination collapsed.83
So the story of the oil trade at Old Calabar until the closing years
of the nineteenth century is one of intense competition between
the various European firms. At no time was there a monopoly or
combination of firms, except for the short-lived trade agreements
of 1883-8. Yet despite the attempts of liberated Africans, King
Eyo II, and the Henshaws in 1881-2,84 to trade directly with Britain,
the Europeans continued to handle the external trade.

2. Exports
Old Calabar exported 700-800 tons of oil per annum in the last
’• P.P. Africa, 1702 (1888), p. 31, Inc. 3 in No. 18, Calprof Ibadan, 5/9.
" Gertzcl, Cherry, 'John Holt: A British Merchant in West Africa in the Era of
Imperialism.’ (Oxford D.Phil. thesis 1959), p. 205, cit. John Holt Papers, 3/11.
81 Burn to Agents, 27 Dec. 1883, Calprof Ibadan, 4/3 vol. 2.
82 Gertzel, ‘John Holt’, pp. 206-7, cit. John Holt Papers 3/11 and 26/3a.
83 Gertzel, ‘John Holt’, pp. 209-12, cit. John Holt Papers 26/3a.
84 N. B. Henshaw to Walkden & Co., 6 Oct. 1881, Calprof Ibadan 4/3 vol. 2.
Walkden & Co. to N. B. Henshaw, 2 Dec. 1881, Calprof Ibadan 4/3 vol. 2.
Walkden & Co. to N. B. Henshaw, 13 Oct. 1882, Calprof Ibadan, 5/1,
66 THE ERA OF THE PALM-OIL TRADE
years of the legitimate slave trade.85 Graph 2 shows the increase of
Calabar’s exports during the century, and reveals how important
Calabar was in the early days. She exported 1,200 tons p.a. in 1812—
17, although only in 1815 were more than 1,500 tons imported into
Britain.85 Bonny produced 200 tons p.a., and Cameroons only
Tons
8000 -

7000

6000

5000
1
4000

3000

2000

1000

1800 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Graph 2: Palm Oil Exports from Old Calabar 1812-1887
Source: see Appendix 1.
50 tons p.a. in the same six-year period.87 In 1821, when Calabar was
producing 2,000 tons, and total U.K. imports were 5,124 tons, Bonny
was producing very little.88 Yet despite the over-all increase in the oil
trade, Calabar was still only producing about 2,000 tons in 1828,
Bonny and Cameroons being of growing importance.89 By 1833 Old
Calabar was shipping 4,000-5,000 tons, total U.K. imports being
13,345 tons. So it is clear that as West African oil exports increased,
Old Calabar contributed a decreasing share of the total, although
the volume of her exports continued to grow. From the thirties to
85 Adams, Sketches, pp. 42-3 . 80 Table 4, p. 57. 87 Robertson, pp. 363-4.
88 Collier, Report on the Coast of Africa, 27 Dec. 1821, FO84/19.
89 Capt. W. F. W. Capt. Narrative of Voyages to explore the shores of Africa,
Arabia, and Madagascar (London, 1833), ii. 357.
 THE PALM-OIL TRADE AT OLD CALABAR 67
the sixties, Calabar’s oil exports continued at about the same level,
4,000-5,000 tons p.a., although, by the late forties, British imports
were well over 20,000 tons. Only Bonny was exporting more than
Calabar, with 7,773 tons in 1847, 8,450 tons in 1848,“ 8,227 tons in
1849, 6,730 tons in 1850,91 and 12,421 tons in 1851.92 As slaving
declined elsewhere on the African Coast, other ports became oil
exporters, and the proportion of oil furnished by the Oil Rivers as a
whole declined. Nevertheless Calabar’s exports increased after 1864,
for by 1871 her exports were running at about 6,000 tons. However in
1875 she only exported 5,085 tons to Bonny’s 5,658 tons.93 But in
1883 she exported 7,365 tons, and in 1887 her oil exports were
estimated at 7,000 tons, while only Opobo of the Oil Rivers ports
exported more, with 8,000 tons. Lagos however produced 11,470
tons, which made it the premier oil port, although the Oil Rivers
aggregate was almost three times as large, at 33,000 tons.91 Thus
Calabar remained one of the most important West African oil ports
until the last years of the nineteenth century.
Palm kernels became an important export after 1869, and Graph
3 gives the available kernel export figures. 1,000 tons were exported
in the first year, and 2,000 tons in 1871, but then there was an em­
bargo on kernel exports by the Efik. But in 1875 approximately 975
tons were exported, in comparison with Bonny’s 422 tons.95 By 1887
Calabar was producing 10,000 tons of kernels, well above her local
competitors Opobo and Benin, which produced 6,000 tons each.
Lagos however produced 31,259 tons, a much greater total.90 This
gives rise to the surprising observation that the ratio of oil exports to
kernel exports at Lagos in 1887 was 1:2-7 tons, whereas at Old
Calabar the ratio was 1:1-4 tons. As kernels and oil were in joint
supply one can only assume that there was a greater relative oil­
surplus in palm-abundant Ibibioland, than there was in the Lagos
hinterland, where more oil must have been consumed domestically.
D“ P.P. 1850 (53), lx, Minutes of Evidence before Select Committee on the
African Slave Trade, QQ 3143, Dawson cit. John Clare.
01 P.P. 1852 (284), xlix, Correspondence Relating to the Conveyance of H.M.
Mails to the West Coast of Africa, in John Clare to Admiralty, 16 Dec. 1851.
91 Ibid., in John Clare to Admiralty, 2 Jan. 1852.
93 James Irvine & Co. to Hopkins, 1 July 1878, Calprof Ibadan, 4/1 vol. 7.
91 Minute by Governor Moloney, in connection with his visit in April 1888
to the present eastern limit of the Colony of Lagos, Government Gazette, p. 201,
FO84/1882.
93 James Irvine & Co. to Hopkins, 1 July 1878, Calprof Ibadan, 4/1, vol. 7.
91 Minute by Governor Moloney, p. 201, FO84/1882.
F
68 THE ERA OF THE PALM-OIL TRADE
The price paid for oil by the Europeans varied according to market
conditions in Europe, and in Calabar. In Britain oil was an alter­
native to tallow, from which soap and candles were made, and the
two commodities were therefore in competition with each other.”
Palm oil was also used for grease on the railways to a small extent.98

Tons
10 000 r

9000 -

8000 -

7000 -

6000

5000

4000

3000

2000

1000
Graph 3: Palm Kernel Exports
from Old Calabar 1869-1887
I85O~ 60 70 80 90 Source: see Appendix 2.

,u’ ’he introduction of mineral oil in the early sixties greatly reduced
I c demand for oil for illumination,99 causing a sharp drop in prices,
me late sixties prices picked up as palm oil was increasingly used as
Ux m the tinplate industry.1 Thereafter the price of oil remained
’ 847-8 (272) xxii (1), Minutes of Evidence taken before the Select Com-
Honv- °n ’be Slave Trade, QQ 2606-7, W. M. Hutton. James Irvine & Co. to
»• p"s> 1 July 1878, Calprof Ibadan, 4/1 vol. 7.
bef°re ‘he Se,eC‘
cphce, p. 33 i McPhee, p. 34.
 THE PALM-OIL TRADE AT OLD CALABAR 69
fairly steady, although the underlying trend was downwards, until
after a brief improvement in 1883-4, prices fell away sharply until
the end of the period in response to the general depression in Britain.
The earliest price evidence shows that prices fluctuated consider­
ably in Britain, for although it can be deduced from Robertson that
£40 a ton was being offered in 1812-17,2 other sources give a price
of £20 in 1816? In 1823 oil was sold at £27, and in 1828 at £24 10s.,4
and £20? In the thirties higher prices obtained, for in 1832 £33 is
quoted? and £35 in 1834.’ On 31 December 1842 the buying price for
oil was £32, and on 31 December 1843 the buying price was £29?
This kind of price fluctuation is typical of a primary product such as
oil. Graph 4, showing palm-oil prices in London, 1844-91, reveals
that prices continued to vary considerably. Just as prices had moved
between £20 and £40 till 1844, they moved between £25 and £40
until the early fifties, when the level rose steeply to between £40 and
£50 until the crash of the early sixties when prices fell to about £32.
Recovery came late in 1865, and prices held between £35 and £40 into
the seventies. From 1879 the price slid slowly down to £30-35, when
a short-lived recovery took place in 1883-4 with prices again £35-40.
Then the price dropped away badly to fluctuate between £20 and
£24, the lowest prices recorded since 1844. After a brief recovery in
1888-9 prices fell back again and in 1891 again went below the £24
level. McPhee noted this overall pattern, but not in detail?
There is much less evidence of the prices paid for oil in Calabar, as
oil was exchanged for goods valued in coppers, the local currency.10
Certainly the price the Europeans were prepared to offer was partly
determined by current prices in Britain, but it was also determined to

a Robertson, pp. 363-4.

3 P.P. 1842 (551), xii, (1), Part 2, Select Committee on the West Coast of Africa,
The Palm Oil Trade.
* P.P. 1847-8 (272), xxii, (1), Minutes of Evidence taken before the Select
Committee on the Slave Trade, QQ 2608, W. M. Hutton.
6 P.P. 1842 (551), xii, (1), Part 2, Select Committee on the West Coast of Africa,
The Palm Oil Trade.
11 P.P. 1847-8 (272), xxii, (I), Minutes of Evidence taken before the Select
Committee on the Slave Trade, QQ 2608, W. M. Hutton.
’ P.P. 1842 (551), xii, (1), Part 2, Select Committee on the West Coast of
Africa, The Palm Oil Trade.
8 P.P. 1850 (53), ix, Minutes of evidence before Select Committee on the
African Slave Trade, QQ 3143, R. Dawson.
8 McPhee, p. 34.
10 Supplementary remarks upon British Trade upon the West Coast of Africa,
Wm. Tasker Nugent, 29 Apr. 1882, FO84/1630.
70 THE ERA OF THE PALM-OIL TRADE

5 £

co

s
§
1
11
4 ■!
S o =
E 2
£ 8
■2 £

aH
s “ iII
S
i
o

S?

§ z saa s i
 THE PALM-OIL TRADE AT OLD CALABAR 71
some extent by the availability of oil. This must have been subject to
the vagaries of the season, although there is no information on
harvest fluctuations. The supply of oil was also dependent upon the
political situation at the markets, for it is known that in the high-
price period of the 1850s, the Umon oil market was closed.11 While it
was opened again in 1860 just before the big price drop in Europe,12
it was only intermittently open until the establishment of the Pax
Britannica.13 Sometimes the Efik combined to keep prices up, as in
1862 when they stopped all trade because of the falling prices.11
Unfortunately details of such combination attempts are virtually
non-existent, although one may assume that Ekpe played an import­
ant part.
Adams in 1821 refers to oil prices at Calabar of £10 to £14,15 and on
Bold’s information about the same time it can be calculated that
prices varied between about £7. 15s. and £15. 10s., per ton.10 There is
no other information until 1855 when oil was being sold to the
Europeans at £25 per ton.17 But during the depression in 1864, prices
in Old Calabar fell to between £13 and £15 per ton.18 In 1868 some
oil confiscated by the Consul was sold off at £20 per ton.10 Thereafter
there is not even such scanty price evidence.
Nevertheless these prices do suggest a rough estimate of turnover­
profit margins for the Europeans. Waddell noted in 1854 that oil
worth £50 in Calabar was worth £100 in Britain,20 which suggests
there was a 100 per cent turnover profit. This figure is supported by
the other price evidence, for the variation of £7. 15s. to £15. 10s.
in Calabar in 1820 fits the estimated variation in Britain at this time
of £20 to £40. And the Calabar price of £25 per ton in 1855 fits the
11 Eyo Honesty to Beecroft, 26 Sept. 1851, in Beecroft to Palmerston, 9 Oct.
1851, FO84/858. Supercargoes to Hutchinson, 30 June 1856, Inc. 1 in Hutchinson
to Clarendon, 20 July 1856, No. 93, F084/1001. Chiefs to Hutchinson, (undated),
Inc. 1 in Hutchinson to Clarendon, 21 Feb. 1857, ST 12, F084/1030.
11 UPCMR 16 (Mar. 1861), 41 and 42, cit. Anderson’s Journal, 3 Nov. 1860,
and 23 Nov. 1860, respectively.
13 Goldie, Dictionary, p. 361. UPCMR n.s. 4 (1 Jan. 1883), p. 13 cit. Goldie's
Journal, 28 Aug. 1882.
11 Supercargoes to Burton, 28 Apr. 1862, in Burton to Russell, 22 May 1862,
No. 16, FO84/1176.
18 Adams, Sketches, pp. 109, 113, 116.
10 Bold, p. 78. Adams, Sketches, p. 113.
17 Waddell, Journal, vol. 10, p. 57, Waddell to Wilson and Dawson, 15 Jan.
1855. Bold, p. 80.
18 Burton to Russell, 15 Apr., 1864, FO84/1221.
18 Livingstone to Clarendon, 28 Aug. 1869, No. 17, FO84/1308.
30 Waddell, Journal, Vol. 10, p. 45, 25 Oct. 1854.
72 the era OF the palm-oil trade
,„tata> .t prta. » London M. th.< >»• T «». •
“S™: ™«.1.0 a™ - im
erratic nature of the market both tn Britam and Cala^
that particular voyages might err on either sid speculative
was a turnover profit of 100 per “"^^^^Vc^fectioner

eight months, nor bear the same risks. The oil mere a
had to bear the cost of the ship, depreciation, insurance .port dues,
wages, comey, trade goods, ceremonial breakfasts, an ue
of the putative 100 per cent turnover profit, which could so eas! y
eroded by delay on the coast or a shift in prices. Loss above insura
cover was not uncommon, for in 1851 two ships were lost re urni
from Calabar,21 and in 1853 the Pytho was destroyed by Me in
Calabar.22 Therefore it is a myth that excessive profits were o
made in palm-oil trade before the 1860s, certainly as far as
Calabar was concerned. ,
After the depression of the early sixties, the trading system change
to that of agents resident at Calabar, sending oil home on t e
steamers, or their companies’ ships which came out to pick up t e
cargo which awaited them. Because of the rapid turnover, smaller
profits were now theoretically acceptable, and Livingstone, who is
largely responsible for the myth that excessive profits were made in
the days of sail, estimated that turnover profits were sometimes as
low as 5 per cent.22 Indeed, he suggests that as prices picked up
again, the trading revolution may have increased prices paid to
the Africans, although regrettably there is no evidence to support
this assumption.21 In fact, what little evidence there is suggests that
despite the change in the mode of trading, the turnover profit
remained the same, since the local prices of £13 to £15 in 1864 must
be set against the London price of £32 to £36 in that year, and the
puncheons of oil which King Archibong was fined in 1868 were
auctioned in Calabar at £8 a puncheon, and sold at a profit of £9 per
puncheon in England.25

Marwick, p. 283. 2 J‘in. 1852. t Q ,, FO2/47

P.P. 1873, Ixv, Report by CoSi"° t0S,anlCy’1 °Ct’ ’
22? J'”’. ™84/1308. LiVinES,°ne'°
> "O. Zl, FO84/1308.
 THE PALM-OIL TRADE AT OLD CALABAR 73
Besides palm produce, Old Calabar also exported sundry items of
less importance. The value of Calabar’s barwood, ivory, ebony,
wax, gum, and red pepper was estimated at £8,400 p.a. for the years
1812-17.28 Redwood was exported during the first half of the cen­
tury,27 but these items dwindled in importance over the years,
although as late as 1871 a small trade in ivory and ebony continued.23

3. Imports
As in the days of the slave trade, the principle categories of goods
were textiles, bar iron, copper rods, hardware, guns, powder, and
spirits.28
But one new commodity, salt, not mentioned in any records of the
slave trade at Old Calabar, was imported in increasing amounts as
the oil trade developed. Although still produced locally at Tom
Shotts in 1805,28 by 1812-17 it was an important import ‘especially
for the purchase of palm-oil’.21
Bold described salt as ‘a very profitable and commanding article’22
at Calabar, and Adams, in about 1821, noted that as salt was cheap
in Liverpool and always in demand at Calabar, the ships took as
much as they could.22 Holman in 1828 reported that salt formed the
principal part of the oil trader’s cargoes.2' In 1845, out of a West
African total of 8,392 tons of salt, Calabar imported from Liverpool
2,984 tons compared to Bonny’s 1,477 tons, although the value of
Bonny’s total commodity imports was twice Calabar’s.22 Waddell
noted the importance of salt,28 and special ledgers of the salt im­
ports were kept by the Europeans, the return of which to the Efik
was tantamount to stopping trade.27 Salt was vital to the trade with
the main oil market at Ikpa,28 and a dispute over the internal salt
20 Robertson, p. 3 63 . 27 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 327.
22 Capt. J. B. Walker, F.R.G.S., ‘Notes on the Cross and Calabar Rivers, June
1871’, UPCMR N.s. 4 (2 Sept. 1872), 280.
22 Bold, pp. 80-1. Adams, Sketches, pp. 113,116. P.P. 1850 (53), ix, Minutes of
Evidence before Select Committee on the African Slave Trade, QQ 3143, R.
Dawson, cit. John Clare.
30
Hallett, p. 197. 21 Robertson, p. 314.
32
Boid, p. 79. 22 Adams, Sketches, p. 114
34
Holman, p. 397.
33
P.P. 1850 (53), ix, Minutes of Evidence before Select Committee on the
African Slave Trade, QQ 3143, cit. John Clare.
30 Waddell, Journal, vol. 10, p. 79, Waddell to Badenock, 22 Mar. 1855.
37 Supercargoes to King Eyo Honesty, 16 Feb. 1858, in Hutchinson to Malmes­
bury, 25 May 1858, ST 26, FO84/1061.
32 VPCMR N.s. 1 (1 Oct. 1867), 405, cit. Anderson's Journal, 7 Jan. 1867.
74 THE ERA OF THE PALM-OIL TRADE
trade was an immediate cause of the war between Henshaw Town and
Duke Town in 1875.39
As the growth of salt imports was associated with the development
of the oil trade, it is possible that Duke Ephraim’s subjection of
Tom Shott’s in the 1820s was due to his desire to control the internal
salt trade, and thereby the oil trade. The growth in salt imports
coincided with the vast increase in salt production in Cheshire due to
the use of the steam engine for pumping, and the construction of
canals.40 Perhaps it was the huge hinterland-demand for salt which
was the incentive for Calabar’s early participation in the oil trade,
at a time when she still had a profitable slave trade. Only the Liver­
pool traders could provide the quantities of cheap salt that were
needed, and oil was the commodity they demanded in exchange.
Although no other new categories of goods were imported prior
to 1891, changes did take place in the goods in each category. This
was particularly true of cloth, for up until at least 1820, as in the days
of the slave trade, Indian cloths such as romals, photaes, alligars,
sastracundies, and carridaries, were of primary importance. A little
Lancashire cloth was also taken,41 but by 1847 it had ousted the
Indian stuffs.42 In 1872, however, Lancashire cloths themselves were
suffering severe competition from cheaper and better Swiss prints,43
although in the eighties Manchester regained her grip.44
Other British goods also had to face Continental competition. In
the early seventies Belgian muskets superseded those from Birming­
ham, and Belgian matchets for a short time ousted those from the
Black Country.45
Another change which occurred in the late sixties was the increased
inflow of cheap gin. Hitherto spirits had not played a large part in the
Calabar trade, although some had always been imported. In an
abstract of a cargo suitable for purchasing 100 tons of oil at £14, in
33 Statement of Henshaw’s Town, 20 Aug. 1878, para. 10, Calprof Ibadan, 4/1
vol. 6.
40 T. C. Barker, and J. R. Harris, A Merseyside Town in the Industrial Revolu­
tion, St. Helens, 1750-1900 (Liverpool, 1954), pp. 57-8.
E. Hughes, Studies in Administration and Finance, 1558-1825 (Manchester,
1934), pp. 396-403.
41 Adams, Sketches, pp. 113, 116. Bold, p. 80.
43 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 327.
43 P.P. 1873, Ixv, Report by Consul Livingstone.
44 Minute by Governor Moloney, p. 201, FO84/1882. A Report on the British
Protectorate of the Oil Rivers, in Johnston to Salisbury, 1 Dec. 1888, Section G.
Trade, FO84/1882.
43 P.P. 1873, Ixv, Report by Consul Livingstone.
 THE PALM-OIL TRADE AT OLD CALABAR 75
about 1820, Adams included brandy or rum worth only £66 out of a
total of £l,400.45 Bold did not even include liquor as an article of
trade, although he notes it was essential for ‘dash’.47 In 1845 Calabar
only imported 788 hogsheads of rum from Liverpool.48 But with the
opening of a steamship line from the Clyde in 1869, cheap spirits
flooded into Calabar in increasing quantities, as the Scottish
Missionaries noted to their regret.43

4. The effect of external trade on the domestic economy

Because the oil-producing areas were inland, and the Efik them­
selves were not producers, little is known about how the expansion of
the oil trade, from 1,000 tons p.a. to over 7,000 tons p.a. in the eighty
or so years up to 1891, affected the economy in the producing areas.
And it is only possible to speculate about the influence which imports
had upon the local economy. Most of the commodities had long been
imported, and their effect was merely a continuation of what had
already been taking place.
European earthenware does not seem to have had an adverse
effect on local potteries, as the Nkpara potteries were flourishing
in the forties,50 and pottery was made at Ikot Ansa, a Qua village
close to Old Town, until the early years of the present century. Indeed
the challenge to the local potteries came not from Europe, but from
Afikpo, which now supplies the lower Cross River. Traditional types
of pottery are still widely used, despite the competition of European
pots, pans, and enamelware.51
Cloth imports had little effect on local industry, as none was made
except raffia cloth woven from palm-wine-tree fronds. This had been
driven out of the Calabar markets by 1847,52 although still worn by
the Ibibio in the 1870s.53 To this day the Ibibio and Efik use raffia
cloth for the ceremonial costumes of their secret societies.
Cheap spirits after 1869 may have had an adverse effect on those
40 Adams, Sketches, p. 116. 47 Bold, pp. 80-1.
44 P.P. 1850 (53), ix, Minutes of Evidence before Select Committee on the
African Slave Trade, QQ 3143, R. Dawson cit. John Clare.
40 Marwick, p. 446, cit. Goldie’s Journal, 6 May 1869.
50 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, pp. 361-2, and Journal, vol. 7, p. 44, 24 Nov.
1849.
01 Chief Enc Ndcm Ephraim Duke, 23 Nov. 1965. Chief Asuquo Edet Okon.
25 Nov. 1965. Chief Thomas A. Efiom, M.O.N., 7 Dec. 1965.
t= Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 327.
“ UPCMR 14 (Aug. 1859), 153-4, cit. Revd. Baillie. 12 Feb. 1S59. Ibid. N.S. 2
(1 July 1869) 398 cit. Dr. Robb, and N.s. 4 (1 Oct. 1872), 301, cit. Dr. Robb.
76 THE ERA OF THE PALM-OIL TRADE
employed in tapping palm wine, although there is no proof of this
and Livingstone discounted the belief that the Africans suffered from
drinking imported liquor.61
As regards the import of salt, it appears that this did undermine
local production, for Tom Shotts ceased to make salt.55 On the other
hand the vast quantities imported indicated a demand which local
industry could never have satisfied.
The import of hardware does not seem to have reduced demand for
local blacksmiths, who were much sought after.50 Ibo in origin,57
they were being brought to Calabar to work as late as 1870.68
Although by 1847 local carpenters had stopped using indigenously-
made axes, preferring European tools,59 there was still plenty of work
for the smiths. They made staples,00 shot, needles,01 and fixed brass
leglets on ladies of high estate.02 They also made the ‘black coppers’
which formed the domestic currency.03 As these were used well into
the twentieth century, the smiths must have been kept well occupied.
The influx of copper and brass rods during the century must have
had some influence on the local economy, for these ‘coppers’ (pkuk)
about three feet long and half an inch thick, were used as currency.01
Table 5 reveals that the value of the copper rod fell from about Is.
in 1805, to fluctuate between 1|<Z. and 3<7. from 1846 to the early
twentieth century. The drop in value in the first half of the century
may have been due to a considerable inflow of rods, for Bold, in
about 1820, noted that none had been imported for many years, so
51 P.P. 1873, Ixv, Report by Consul Livingstone.
55 Capt. J. B. Walker, F.R.G.S., ‘Note on the Old Calabar and Cross Rivers’,
P.R.G.S. 16 (1871-2), 136.
58 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, pp. 326-7, 514, and Journal, 8 (1 June 1851),
92, 10 (1 Nov. 1854), 46.
" Coulthurst, J.R.G.S. ii (1832), 305. Coulthurst to Nicolls (undated), CO 82/5.
Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, pp. 326-7, 468.
“ Marwick, p. 470, cit. Anderson’s Journal, 17 Apr. 1870.
59 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, pp. 326-7.
00 Waddell, Journal, vol. 1, p. 29, 16 Apr. 1846.
81 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 468 . 82 Ibid., p. 356.
83 Ibid., p. 247. Goldie, Dictionary, p. 255, s.v. Okttk, 2. *. . . Obnbit oka'.
81 Goldie, Dictionary, p. 255. African (West) No. 616. West African Currency
Committee, Report, Minutes of Evidence, and Appendices, 1900, p. 34, paras.
1382-3, CO879/62.
African (West) No. 645. Further correspondence Relating to the Currency
of the West African Colonies, 1900-1903, p. 24, Moor to Colonial Office, 7 July
1901, p. 58, Moor to Chamberlain, 12 June 1902, CO879/66. Paul and Laura
Bohannan, Tie Economy (London, 1968), pp. 236-9. Mary Douglas, ‘Primitive
Rationing', in Raymond Firth, Themes in Economic Anthropology (London,
1967), pp. 137-8.
 THE PALM-OIL TRADE AT OLD CALABAR 77
Table 5
The Value of the Copper Rod, 1805-1910
d.
18O51 12
18202 4-89
I8283 10-12
18464 2-3
1851* 2-4-3
1853 2-4
1857 4
18648 2-6
1869° 3
1882 1-5
189011 2
189412 3
189713 3
1900u 2- 5
190116 3
1902lc 3
190417 3
191018 3-04-3-24

Sources: 1 Hallet, p. 207.2 Adams, Sketches, p. 116.3 James Badglcy, Report on

the Old Calabar River, in Owen to Croker, 21 Feb. 1828, CO82/1.
4 UPCMR 1 (Nov. 1846), p. 175, cit. Waddell. Waddell, Journal, vol.
7, p. 4, Waddell to Jameson, 2 Nov. 1846. 5 Waddell, Journal, vol. 8,
p. 81,28 Mar. 1851. Anderson, Journal, 24 Mar. 1851.0 Marwick, p. 278,
cit. letter dated 4 July 1853.7 Hutchinson to Clarendon, 21 Feb. 1857,
ST 13, F084/1030. 8 Burton to Russell, 15 Apr. 1864, FO84/1221.
9 West Africa, 26 Oct. 1968, p. 1251, cit. Rev. Alex Robb to National
Bible Society (undated) 1869. 10 Supplementary remarks upon British
Trade upon the West Coast of Africa, Tasker Nugent, 29 Apr. 1882,
FO84/1630. 11 Regulations for Maintaining Peace and Order in the
District of Old Calabar, George F. Anncsley, Old Calabar, 1 Sept. 1890,
F084/2020.12 Moor to Foreign Office, 13 Nov. 1897, pp. 295-6, No. 289,
F0403/250. 13 P.P. 1895, Ixxi, (1), Africa No. 1, (1895) Report on the
Administration of the Niger Coast Protectorate, August 1891 to August
1894, p. 37, Inc. 17, Casement to MacDonald, 10 Apr. 1894. 14 P.P.
1902 Cd. 788-23. Ixv. 513. Colonial Reports. Annual, No. 353 Southern
Nigeria, 1900. p. 7-8.15 P.P. 1903 Cd. 1388-5 xliii 381. Colonial Reports,
Annual, No. 381, Southern Nigeria, 1901. p. 6-7.10 Rates of Exchange
for Brass Rods and Manillas, (Undated) 1902, Calprof Ibadan, 9/2
Vol. 2. 17 P.P. 1906, Cd. (2684-5), (Ixxv), 1, Colonial Reports. Annual
No. 459. Southern Nigeria, 1904 p. 13. 18 Akuakiri v. Efiom Okon,
(undated) 1910, Native Court Records, Calabar Native Court, Book
57, No. 60, p. 160.
Note: These values arc only rough approximations. Although there was an
‘official’ value of a shilling, the actual value was clearly less than this. See James
Badgley, Report on the old Calabar River, in Owen to Croker, 21 Feb., 1828,
CO82/1. Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 247. General Report on the Bight of
Biafra, 20 June, 1856, in Hutchinson to Clarendon, 20 June, 1856, 69A, FO2/6.
78 THE ERA OF THE PALM-OIL TRADE
that a new rod could be exchanged for goods worth one and a half
rods.65 As traders took advantage of this 50 per cent gain, coppers
were imported in numbers, leading to a change in the ratio of coppers
to goods in circulation. In other words, Calabar imported inflation.
Another possible factor in the decline of the value of the rod was the
change from copper to brass, a change under way by 1846,66 and
nearly complete by 1856.67 As the value of a rod depended upon its
appearance,68 the substitution of brass for copper may have been
considered a debasement.
If the value of the copper held fairly steadily after 1846, the
‘black copper’ (obubit oku) did not fare so well. These wires were
made by the local smiths from the rods, and were used for trans-

Table 6

The Value of the Black Copper Wire, 1846-1910

d.
18461 0-5
18493 0-5
18643 O-3-O-5
1875* 1
19006 0-12
1901° 0-14
19047 015
1910s 012-015

Sources: Waddell, Journal, vol. 7, pp. 4-5. Waddell to Jameson, 2 Nov. 1846.
Waddell. Twenty-Nine Years, p. 247. = Waddell, Journal, vol. 7, p. 29,
22 Sept. 1849.3 Burton to Russell, 15 Apr. 1864, FO84/1221. Marwick,
p. 407, cit. Anderson’s Journal, 23 Aug. 1864. 4 Deposition before
G. Hartley, H. B. M. Consul, 24 Sept. 1875, signed Ercd Owo X Iseke,
Calprof Ibadan, 5/8, vol. 1.6 P.P. 1902 Cd. (788-23) Ixv (513), Colonial
Reports, Annual, No. 353, Southern Nigeria 1900, pp. 7-8. 0 P.P.
1903 Cd. (1388-5), xliii (381), Colonial Reports, Annual, No. 381,
Southern Nigeria, 1901, pp. 6-7. 7 P.P 1906 Cd. (2684-5), Ixxv, 1,
a A?n’aI ReP°rts» Annual, No. 459, Southern Nigeria, 1904, p. 13.
Afion Abasi v. Udo Odusa, 26 Jan. 1910, Book 57, p. 138, No. 52,
fiaiA?Court Rccords>Calabar. Ndarake Abasi v. Asibon Ene, (undated)
(1910), Book 57, p. 222, Native Court Records, Calabar.

85 Bold, p. 78.
“ Waddell.Twenty-Nine Years, p. 247.
,P0rt on the Bi8ht of Biafra, 20 June 1856, in Hutchinson to
?±">,?°J UnC I856> 69A. FO2/16.
Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p.247.
 THE PALM-OIL TRADE AT OLD CALABAR 79
actions for which a rod was of too high value.0’ They were particu­
larly important in the oil trade, as it was only with them that oil could
be bought at the inland markets.70 Table 6 shows how the value of the
wire declined from W. in 1846 to 0-12 in 1900, to 0-15 of a penny in
1910, the main drop in value occurring after 1875. Yet there is not
sufficient evidence to plot this decline closely, or to ascertain the effect
of the devaluation on the domestic economy. However, such a rise
in prices ought to have been a stimulus, and certainly the smiths must
have benefited as they were called upon to make the increased
amount of wires.
In sum, European imports do not seem to have had an adverse
effect on the indigenous economy. On the contrary, they had a
beneficial effect by introducing more efficient tools, and a wider choice
of cloths and other goods. The wider availability of rods and wires
can only have increased the flexibility of exchange in the entire Cross
River basin. Just as European imports had been beneficial in the days
of the slave trade, they continued to be so during the oil trade. And as
the volume of exports and imports grew during the century, more
people were able to benefit.

5. The internal palm-oil trade

The development of an export trade in palm oil presented few
problems to the Efik, as it was a commodity which they had long sold
in small quantities to the slave vessels for provisions. As the demand
for oil increased, it was a simple matter to utilize the commercial
skills of the slave trade in the evacuation of the new export com­
modity.
Until at least 1891, trade at Calabar continued to be based on
trust, although the custom of taking a pawn or hostage as guarantee
died out with the slave trade. No African accumulated sufficient
capital to throw off his dependence on European capital, nor had he
need to do so, because the intense rivalry of the Europeans ensured a
constant availability of credit.
But as in the slave-trade days, credit created problems, and both
Adams and Bold reported that there was difficulty in recovering
credit debts.71 Duke Ephraim’s legendary credit-worthiness meant
09 Ibid. Goldie, Dictionary, p. 255, s.v. Oknk, 2 *. . . Obubit oku'.
70 Bold, p. 78. Bcecrolt to Palmerston, 4 Mar. 1851, No. 19, FO84/858.
Beccroft to Malmesbury, 20 May 1852, No. 1, FO2/7. P.P. 1873, Ixv, Report by
Consul Livingstone.
71 Bold, p. 79. Adams, Sketches, pp. 112, 114.
80 THE ERA OF THE PALM-OIL TRADE
that during his reign bad debts were uncommon, but his successor
Eyamba V in attempting to ape the Duke’s prestigious display over­
strained his more limited means and fell seriously into debt.72 In
1846 one of his creditors imprisoned him on board ship,73 this
being the traditional way of ensuring debts were paid. His death in
1847 meant that his debts had to be written off,74 and for a while all
was well,76 until in 1851 ships were again being delayed.70 So in 1852
Beecroft negotiated a trade treaty, abolishing trust.77 This proved
completely ineffective, and by 1855 over £250,000 was held in credit
by the Efik.78 The struggle between the supercargoes and liberated
Africans brought the credit problem to a head, and when the crash of
1862 brought trade to a halt, and drove many firms into liquidation,
Consul Burton negotiated a new trade treaty which abolished trust.70
This again had no effect, for by 1869 it was clear that credit was still
being given freely, despite heavy losses.80 In 1872 the Consul was at
long last given magisterial powers over British subjects in his area,
and forthwith declared that no British traders were to seize the
person or property of local people.81 As this was the only way the
agents could insist upon their debts being paid,82 between 1874 and
1880 many such as J. H. White,83 Harry Hartje,81 George Watts,86
Capt. J. B. Walker,80 and Alex Henderson,87 joined the Ekpe society
” Gooch to Jones, 14 July 1845, FO84/612.
Rickin to Horsfall & Sons, 29 Sept. 1845, FO84/612.
” Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 274.
’* UPCMR 2 (Nov. 1847), 185, cit. Edgerley.
" Beecroft to Palmerston, 5 Dec. 1850, FO84/816.
’• Bcccroft to Palmerston, 1 Sept. 1851, FO84/858.
" Treaty of Trade and Commerce, 17 Apr. 1852, Calprof Ibadan, 5/7.
78 P.P. 1856, Ixii, Africa, (Consular)—Bight of Biafra, pp. 42-3. Inc. 19 in No.
34, Supercargoes to Lynslager, 17 Jan. 1855.
” Agreement, 5 May 1862, in Burton to Russell, 22 May 1862, No. 16, FO84/
1176.
•"Wilson to Foreign Secretary, 23 Feb. 1869, No. 8, FO84/1308.
Livingstone to Clarendon, 1 Dec. 1869, No. 35, FO84/1308.
Livingstone to Clarendon, 4 Dec. 1869, FO84/1308.
Rules and Regulations framed under Her Majesty’s Order in Council of the
™d.ay of February, 1872, by Her Majesty’s Consul at Old Calabar, 29 Apr.
1 in Livin8stone to Granville, 29 Apr. 1872, No. 8, FO84/1356.
' stephens to Livingstone, 11 June 1872, in Livingstone to Granville, 3 Aug.
1872, FO 84/1356.
“ Walker to Hartley, 25 July 1874, Calprof Ibadan, 4/1 vol. 3.
,5 Han Report, para. 167.
t u Asrecment signed P. Jas Eyamba V, witness Harold Brooke, 14 Oct. 1879,
John Holt Papers 22/2.
“ J?art Report, para. 170.
Easton to Foreign Secretary, 10 Feb. 1880, No. 5, FO84/1569.
 THE PALM-OIL TRADE AT OLD CALABAR 81
which could use similar sanctions to demand debts be liquidated.
So trust continued to be given, and although Vice-Consul Johnston
tried to suppress it again in 1888, he was overruled,"8 and it continued
into the nineties.
Trust was an integral part of the Elik trading system. For the Efik
were monopolistic middlemen, who stood between the Europeans
and the producers, receiving credit from the former, and using it to
buy oil from the latter.
The exclusion of local rivals from the European trade had been
pursued during the nineteenth century, and completed by Duke
Ephraim.89 Thereafter the Efik suppressed attempts by the Euro­
peans and the hinterland people to contact each other. Eyamba V
viewed with concern Beecroft’s up-river explorations in 1841, fearing
lest the oil markets be discovered,® and the missionaries also felt
Efik disapproval when they attempted to explore inland.91 Beecroft’s
Treaty of 1852 attempted to open trade to all local people, but was
not successful.92 So determined were the Efik to keep the Europeans
from the inland markets that, as a result of the Revd. W. C. Thomp­
son’s evangelistic tour inland, in about 1860, a meeting known as
Mbre Jduke ke Esuk Urua was called to discuss the ejection of the
Mission, lest its activities deprive the Efik of their role as middlemen.
Although the meeting was dispersed by a tornado, and the Mission
remained, the Efik continued their monopoly.93 In 1861 young men
and boys began to trade in tiny quantities of oil, but were thwarted
by an Ekpe law of 1862 which prohibited trading in other than the
traditional casks and puncheons.91 To combat this law Consul Burton
negotiated in his treaty of 1862 that the trade be open to all without
restriction.95 But when he proceeded up-river forthwith to visit the
markets, he was turned back at Itu by about sixty Duke Town slaves,
armed with muskets. After a crisis in which Duke Town was evacu­
ated of civilians and filled with armed slaves under orders to burn
*' Hewett to Salisbury, 20 June 1888, No. 25, FO84/1881.
•’ Chapter 4, p. 49-51.
00 Capt. Beccroft and J. B. King, ‘Explorations of Old Calabar River in 1841
and 1842', J.R.G.S. 14 (1844), 260.
01 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 454.
83 Treaty of Trade and Commerce, 17 Apr. 1852, Calprof Ibadan, 5/7.
83 Goldie, Calabar, p. 206, cit. James Irvine. Nigerian Eastern Mail, 19 Oct.
1935, p. 3, contribution from Etim E. J. Duke.
81 Supercargoes to Burton, 28 Apr. 1862, in Burton to Russell, 22 May 1862,
No. 16, FO84/1176. I
86 Agreement, 5 May 1862, in Burton to Russell, 22 May 1862, No. 16,
FO84/1176.
82 THE ERA OF THE PALM-OIL TRADE
the town to cancel outstanding debts should the Consul open fire,90
the matter was settled peaceably although the river remained closed.97
One young man from an up-river village did begin a brisk trade with
the Europeans, but the Duke Town chiefs confiscated his canoes and
fined him £300." In 1869 a serious threat to the Efik monopoly came
with the opening of the kernel trade, which was entirely in the hands
of petty traders. The goods they obtained caused a glut of European
manufactures at the inland markets, to the anguish of the great oil­
traders, who prevailed upon the King to ban the kernel trade, in the
interests of the Efik monopoly.99 Not until 1874 was the kernel trade
reopened, and small traders free to participate once more.1 At long
last a small breach was appearing in the Efik monopoly, and this
was broadened by an agreement in 1878 opening trade to all local
people including the Qua. One vital article in this agreement stipu­
lated that brass rods could be bought by all local people, the rods
being the currency with which oil was bought at the markets.2
Thus a correspondent to the African Times could write in January
1879:

An important step was taken in the interests of free trade. Hitherto the
palm-oil trade has been monopolised by a very small proportion of the
population. Now, however, it is thrown open to all the inhabitants; and
not only so, but the neighbouring towns and tribes are to have the same
access to the shipping and to the European factories on the beach as had
hitherto been exclusively enjoyed by a favoured few in Duke Town and
Creek Town?

With this liberalization of trade, came renewed European attempts to

establish direct control with the oil producers, the first example of
this being George Watts’s penetration of the Qua Ibo in 1881, in
conjunction with the Henshaws. But this was not a traditional
Efik market area, as is proven by the fact that it was Jaja of Opobo

" Burton to Russell, 22 May 1862, No. 16, FO84/1176.

Burton to Russell, 15 Apr. 1864, Private, FO84/1221.
„ P n ‘’Si?’0 t0 Russdl- 3 Junc 1865, FO84/1249.
, r.f. 1873, ]xv> Report by Consul Livingstone.
F084M401'ent’ 27 F<!b' 1874’ ” Hartlcy t0 Granville, 20 Mar. 1874, No. 6,

No 3^084/1508 eP* ^87^’ ‘n Hopkins to Foreign Secretary, 6 Sept. 1878,

p. 39PKIal CorrcsP°nclent to Editor January 1879, African Times (1 Apr. 1879)
 THE PALM-OIL TRADE AT OLD CALABAR 83
who objected to Watts’s activities, not the Efik oligarchy? But Coco
Bassey recorded in his diary, on 12 July 1883, a more serious threat
to the Efik hold on the Cross River: ‘Thuday [sfc] Harry Hajte [sic]
& George Watts went up with a steamer to go and trade with Bosen
[sic] people but Bosun people refuse.’6
Despite this setback Hartje soon began to receive letters from
the up-river people, begging him to come and open trade. He pressed
John Holt to support the venture, privately deriding the other firms
for their lack of interest in opening the river. In December 1883
Hartje even informed the Henshaws that he intended to open the
river and build a factory at every market. But the scheme foundered,
for Holt feared Efik reaction, and was unable to lay his hands on the
necessary capital? Holt’s fears were justified in 1884 by the Efik
rejection of the article in the Treaty of Protection, which would have
given foreigners freedom to live and trade anywhere they desired.7
By 1885, rather than attempting to break the Efik stranglehold on
the river, the agents were seeking an agreement with the chiefs, to
limit future trade to those already involved. Trading establishments
were to stay as they were, but agents could go beyond Umon for
trade if they wished? Although it is not certain that this agreement
was ever signed, it docs indicate that the merchant houses were not
really interested in breaking the hold of the Efik oligarchy, but were
content to trade by way of it. The only possible exception to this was
the area beyond Umon, never part of the Efik sphere of influence,
and usually disturbed by local wars.
In fact, the only Europeans who established themselves up the
Cross River in the eighties were the missionaries, and before the
Efik would allow them to establish their interior stations they had to
agree that they would take no part at all in trade? It was not until the
consolidation of British authority after 1890 that the merchants
penetrated up the Cross River. The end of Efik control is marked
4 Memo by Watts, 24 Aug. 1881, John Holt Papers, 7/2. John Harford,
Pioneering in West Africa: or 'The Opening up of the Qua Iboe River, in Mary H.
Kingsley, West African Studies (London, 1899), Appendix ii. Part ii, pp. 582-7.
P. A. Talbot, The Peoples of Southern Nigeria (London, 1926), i. 210.
6 Diary of Coco Bassey, 2nd Folder, Coco Bassey Papers.
• Gertzel, ‘John Holt’, pp. 185-8.
7 Draft Agreement, 1885, John Holt Papers, 7/3.
8 Treaty with Kings and Chiefs of Old Calabar, 10 Sept. 1884, Inc. 16 in No.
13, p. 27, FO403/47.
8 Goldie, Calabar, p. 20.

G
84 THE ERA OF THE PALM-OIL TRADE
by the imposition of customs duties on 10 August 1891,10 the revenue
from which was to finance the administration, and opening up, of the
country, and payment to the chiefs in lieu of comey which was
abolished.11
While formal restrictions on local people trading were relaxed
during the seventies, the lion’s share of the trade continued to be in
the hands of the chiefs who formed the ruling oligarchy. The social
history of Calabar will be dealt with more fully in Chapter 6, but it
can be said here that the number of trading chiefs increased during
the century. It was Duke Ephraim’s fundamental achievement that
he virtually monopolized the trade in the twenties and early thirties,
eliminating rival house-heads from contact with the Europeans.
Some could only obtain credit on his guarantee.12 But this monopoly
was broken up on his death, and the number of men trading directly
with the Europeans increased. Those who had traded under the
auspices of the Duke now carried on business in their own right, and
negotiated their own credit. By 1847 there were at least ten trading.13
During the fifties, men of slave origin such as Black Davis, Yellow
Duke, and Bassey Henshaw, joined these privileged ranks. They did
not advance on their own initiative from being petty traders, but as
the favoured agents of their masters.1'1 Some managed for their
masters who were more concerned with political affairs, and others
took control of their master’s business after his death. By 1875 there
were at least 31 Efik traders,15 and in 1888 a minimum of 23 were
threatened with being banned from trading because of their debts.10
All were well connected in Efik society, as freemen or privileged
house slaves. Thus despite the relaxation of trading restrictions from
the seventies onwards, petty traders and those of neighbouring tribes
played an insignificant part in business. Trade remained in the hands
of the Efik oligarchy, and did not pass to a competitive, individual­
istic group of small traders.
10 Macdonald to F.O., 11 June 1891, No. 30, FO403/171.
11 Ibid., No. 31, FO403/171. 11 Holman, p. 398.
13 Kings, Chiefs, and Gentlemen Traders to Hope, 30 Sept. 1847, in Hotham to
Admiralty, No. 42, 24 Jan. 1848, FO84/746.
13 Ofion Asibon v. Bassey Duke & House, Claim: To recover the Estate of late
Yellow Duke. 5 Oct. 1903, No. 376, pp. 231-2, E. E. Offiong’s Judgement Book,
1902.
“ Trust due to Couper Scott & Co., Hulk ‘Queen of England’, Mr. Johns
Account, 1875, Calprof Ibadan 5/1.
13 Notice dated 13 Apr. 1888, signed H. H. Johnston, in Hewett to Salisbury,
20 June 1888, No. 25, FO84/1881.
 THE PALM-OIL TRADE AT OLD CALABAR 85
It was this well defined oligarchy which received the all important
trust. Each ‘gentleman trader* was head of a business organization
with many workers, both slave and free, members of his ward or
family. The majority were employed transporting manufactures and
oil to and from the markets, as Waddell described:
Those employed in canoes are fed, and are in crews of six to ten in each
canoe under a captain or super-cargo. He has a commission on his trade,
and may trade on his own account a little, but not in palm oil, or so as to
neglect his master’s interests. The canoe people traffic in provisions,
buying with English goods up the country, and selling to the towns-people,
ships and mission houses.1’
More important were the buying agents who lived at the markets.
Black Davis had been a buying agent at Ikpa in 1839,18 and King
Eyo H’s principal trader was his Ikpa agent, who had many slaves
and wives of his own.1’ At the other markets such as Itu,20 Ikoro-
fiong,21 and in the Cameroons,22 colonies of Efik buying-agents grew
up, surrounded by their families and hands.23
From Waddell’s information it is likely that agents had a com­
mission on the business they furnished for their master. They traded
by giving the market people goods on credit, which their masters
had received on credit from the Europeans. In 1850 Itu fell heavily
in debt to King Eyo II as a result of mis-spending credit they had
received,21 and one of the causes of the Henshaw-Duke Town war
in 1875 was that King Archibong had prohibited the Henshaws from
trading after they had given out trust.25 In 1882 the Henshaws
suffered a similar blow when the people of one of the inland markets
stopped trade after receiving credit.20 And Goldie attributed the
recurrent Umon-Calabar wars to the fact that the Umon ran up big
credit debts, and then declared war in order to repudiate them.27
; 17 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Tears, pp. 319-20.
18 Black Davis, 3 Sept. 1839, House Record of Black Davis, pp. 334-5.
UPCMR 12 (1 Apr. 1857), 53, cit. Waddell’s Journal.
20 Waddell, Journal, vol. 8, p. 74, 22 Mar. 1851.
21 UPCMR 13 (July 1858), 129, Letter from Alexander Robb, 19 Mar. 1858.
22 UPCMR N.s. 6 (1 Sept. 1877), 632, cit. Rcvd. Alex Ross.
22 Nigerian Eastern Mail, 19 Oct. 1935, p. 3, cit. Etim E. J. Duke. Chief Maurice
Efana Archibong, 19 Jan. 1966.
21 Waddell, Journal, vol. 8, p. 16, 26 May 1850.
Statement of Henshaw’s Town, 20 Aug. 1878, para. 10, Calprof Ibadan, 4/1
vol. 6.
20 Henshaw to Court of Equity, 17 Jan. 1882, Calprof Ibadan, 3/2.
27 UPCMR n.s. 4 (1 Jan. 1883), 13, cit. Goldie’s Journal, 28 Aug. 1882.
86 THE ERA OF THE PALM-OIL TRADE
Thus as in the days of the slave trade, credit chains extended
from the Europeans on the coast far into the hinterland market
areas.
Lastly, the location of the oil markets must be considered. The Efik
themselves did not produce oil in commercial quantities,28 despite
Nair’s suggestion that the territory of Akpabuyo to the east of
Calabar was settled during Duke Ephraim’s reign in order to provide
oil.2’ For Waddell writes of the people of Akpabuyo in 1855: ‘But
the oil trade being in the hands of their masters whose authority they
disown & their part of the country not growing the Palm nut tree in
abundance sufficient for oil making in quantity, they are excluded all
share in that trade now.’20
To this day Akpabuyo produces very little oil. Indeed, the oil palm
is not cultivated,31 and, as is shown on Map 6, it is to the west of
the Cross River, from Afikpo to the coast, that the palm belt lies.32
The main markets lay within this region, Ikpa, Ikot Offiong, Itu, and
Umon, with lesser markets at Ifiayong and Enyong.33 Bold and
Grant in the 1820s were aware of the importance of Ibibioland as a
producer of oil, and the markets of Ikot Offiong and Enyong.31
But Waddell knew that the principal oil market was Ikpa,35 which
Goldie described as ‘The largest oil market of the Calabar people’.36
The Efik took great care to keep this market open, even sending
annual presents to the people there.37 Umon was also an important
market, at the furthest point of Efik penetration up the Cross River,38
its supplies coming from the region to the north-west of the Cross
River. In the early fifties, its production, when available, was
estimated at 1,600-1,800 puncheons annually, i.e. 640-720 tons p.a.,

11 Capt. J. B. Walker, ‘Note on the Old Calabar and Cross Rivers’, P.R.G.S. 16
(1871-2), 136.
“ Nair, pp. 54-7.
” Waddell to Badenock, 22 Mar. 1855. In Waddell, Journal, vol. 10,
p. 79.
51 Martin, p. 9.
” A. F. B. Bridges, D.O., Report on Oil Palm Survey, Ibo, Ibibio, and Cross
River Areas, 11 June 1938, CSO 26/17696, Ibadan, p. 4, para. 11.
33 Chief Michael Henshaw, 18 Nov. 1965. Chief Thomas A. Efiom, M.O.N.,
7 Dec. 1965. Chief Maurice Efana Archibong, 19 Jan. 1966.
“ Bold, p. 78. Crow, p. 271.
33 Waddell, Journal, vol. 8, p. 68, 24 Feb. 1851.
38 Goldie, Dictionary, p. 359.
33 Archibong and Chiefs to Hutchinson, 1 Mar. 1859, in Hutchinson to
Malmesbury, 21 Mar. 1859, ST 12, FO84/1087.
38 Goldie, Dictionary, p. 361.
Map 6: Palm belt with main oil markets
88 THE ERA OF THE PALM-OIL TRADE
which would have increased total exports by about 17 per cent.30
Unfortunately, repeated outbreaks of war made trade there
irregular.40
East of the Cross River, an insignificant amount of oil was bought
by the Efik from the fragmented tribes there such as the Uwet, Ekoi,
and Okoyong.41 Further to the east, an important supply area was
the Cameroons, although it is not clear which markets were used,
or where the palms were situated. Although Bold noted in the 1820s
that oil came from the Cameroons,42 since then this source was kept
secret from the Europeans until 1877 when the Revd. Alex Ross
reported that Yellow Duke was the major trader there, with a base at
Odobo.43
Little is known of market expansion as exports increased during
the century. Efik connections with the heart of the Ibibio palm belt
were of long standing, as the Efik had migrated from that region, and
had continued to buy oil there for domestic use. As the oil demand
grew, more was gathered by the local people. Yet expansion did not
take place without tension, as the following newly discovered entry
for 3 September 1839 in the Black Davis House Book shows:

I Black Davis states When Efik traders went to Ikpa for the purpose of
trading, A great disturbance usual arose in the market as that was only a
market which was called Creek Town or Ikpa market. Eyo Eyo Inyang
was head Chief of Creek Town Traders and Eyo Honesty King of Creek
Town at the time. Through this war then the (Atakpa) or Duke Town
traders who were living together with the said Creek Town traders called
the attention of Ibibio Chief and asked them for another portion of land to
open a special market of ours. . . . The said paramount Chief Akpan
Ekpene then showed in the Atakpa or Duke Town traders a bush to clear
and open a market and build houses thereto. I Black Davis built a place
of mine as well as other traders did on the said land gave us by the para­
mount chief Akpan Ekpene. Eyamba alias Edem Ekpenyong was King of
Duke Town at the time the new market was opened . . ,44

” Eyo Honesty to Beecroft, 26 Sept. 1851, in Beecroft to Palmerston, 9 Oct.

1851, FO84/858. Bold, p. 80.
40 Goldie, Dictionary, p. 361. UPCMR n.s. 4 (1 Jan. 1883), 13, cit. Goldie’s
Journal, 28 Aug. 1882.
41 Capt. J. B. Walker, ‘Note on the Old Calabar and Cross Rivers’, P.R.G.S.
16 (1871-2), 137.
42 Bold, p. 78.
43 Marwick, p. 435, cit. Adam Duke to Anderson, 15 Oct. 1868. UPCMR n.s.
6 (1 Sept. 1877), 632-3, cit. Revd. Alex Ross.
‘‘‘ Statement of Black Davis, 3 Sept. 1839, translated into English by Messrs.
Williams, D.O. and E. Offiong, Black Davis House Book, pp. 334-5.
 THE PALM-OIL TRADE AT OLD CALABAR 89
Efik connections with Umon, Itu, and Ikorofiong were well
established during the slave trade, as was intercourse with the
Cameroons.45 But in the late seventies there was a quest for new
markets, which was reflected in increased exports. The Henshaws
were particularly active, for Joseph Henshaw began business at
Oron, and settled there in 1879.46 He also accompanied George
Watts on the expedition to open the Qua Ibo in 1881.” But the Oron
began to make difficulties,48 demanding tribute for produce passing
through their territories, until they were defeated in an attack on
25 January 1882, by the Henshaws and Duke Town.48
Unfortunately, this market expansion was offset by consolidation
of German control in the Cameroons. Yellow Duke, who was very
active there, kidnapped some people from Iduan in May 1888.“ On
1 July restrictions were placed on Efik traders operating there; a
licence costing 2,000 marks a year was required to import spirits, and
tariff's were to be paid on many other goods. In notifying Hewett,
the Imperial Governor asked especially that Yellow Duke should be
informed.51
These restrictions probably had little effect at first, as the Efik
resorted to smuggling, even today a widespread activity. Because the
Efik were flouting the restrictions, a German gunboat sailed up to
Creek Town in 1889 and took Eyo VII prisoner, making him respon­
sible for the actions of two Creek Town traders at New Wamaso on
the River Rumby on the Rio del Rey. Eyo was released but two
hostages were carried away.52 By 1891 several important Efik traders
had been nearly ruined by the assumption of German sovereignty
in that region.52
So the Efik switched over smoothly from the slave trade to the oil
43 Ardencr, pp. 109-13. Duke, ‘Diary’, p. 38, 3 Oct. 1785, p. 43, 11 Feb. 1786.
40 Henry Cobham v. Idiok Une, representing the people of Uyaron, Oron, in
the Calabar Divisional Court, 1937 (supplied by Chief Efana Daniel Henshaw,
21 Dec. 1965).
44 Memorandum by Watts, 24 Aug. 1881, Holt Papers 7/2.
18 Henshaw to Court of Equity, 17 Jan. 1882, Calprof Ibadan 3/2.
49 Newspaper cutting in Watts to Holt, 19 Mar. 1882. John Holt Papers, 4/6,
(year deduced from list of deaths on reverse of cutting, mentioning death of
Louisa Anderson, on 26 Jan.).
60 Imperial Governor to Hewett, 24 May 1888, Calprof Ibadan, 4/1 vol. 10.
51 Imperial Governor to Hewett, 24 May 1888, Calprof Ibadan, 4/1 vol. 10.
“ Unwana Efik, vol. iii, no. 2 (Feb. 1889), in Hewett to Salisbury, No. 14,
18 Apr. 1889, FO84/1941.
53 Journal of Commerce, 30 May 1891, Book of News Cuttings, 1881-96, John
Holt Papers.
90 THE ERA OF THE PALM-OIL TRADE
trade, utilizing the trading mechanisms and know-how they had built
up in the slave trade to export palm produce. It was not until the
consolidation of British authority on the Cross River, and German
rule in the Cameroons, in the 1890s, that the Efik lost their grip on
the monopolistic trading-network they had built up. Meanwhile they
successfully kept the Europeans from the hinterland, and the hinter­
land people from the Europeans. But it was the misfortune of the
Efik trading empire that it was a purely commercial organization,
which did not control the source of supply of the palm produce it
handled. With the establishment of free trade on the Cross River
under the Pax Britannica, the Efik commercial empire was short-
circuited, and Old Calabar’s prosperity disappeared. If this was a
disaster to the Efik, it was hardly a disaster to the oil producers, who
were now free to negotiate their own prices with the Europeans. But
that is another story.
 CHAPTER 6

The Oil Trade and Efik Social History

During the period of the slave trade, Efik society was modified by
the incorporation of slaves into the original compound groups. The
compounds of successful traders expanded into wards which cast
aside the authority of their lineage groups, and became independent
segments of the community. Yet the new wards did not separate from
the village group, because the three integrating forces of Ndem,
secret society, and council, particularly the latter two, were adapted
to enable their interests to be served. But the cessation of the external
slave trade, and the development of the export of palm oil, introduced
new forces to which Efik society had to adapt. This chapter will dis­
cuss these forces, both internal and external, and the problems which
they presented.

1. The expansion of the agricultural slaves

The population of Old Calabar grew steadily during the nineteenth
century, that of Duke Town being about 2,000 in 1805,1 and roughly
6,000 after 1846, with perhaps ten times as many in the farming
areas.2
Much of the expansion of the population between 1805 and 1846
was due to the settlement of large numbers of slaves in Akpabuyo, a
large agricultural district to the east of Calabar. Tradition holds that
this took place particularly in the twenty or so years of Duke
Ephraim’s reign, which ended in 1834.3 This was the transitional
period from the export of slaves to the export of palm oil, and Jones
has implied that the settlement was undertaken to absorb surplus
slaves left over from the slave trade.1 But although some of the
settlers had been released from slaving ships at the approach of the
1 Hallett, p. 206.
5 Waddell, Journal, vol. 1, p. 23, 11 Apr. 1846, p. 25, 13 Apr. 1846. Marwick,
p. 497, cit. Anderson to Law, etc., 22 Dec. 1871.
3 Chief E. Ekpcnyong, M.B.E., 1 Dec. 1965. Chief Ene Ndem Ephraim Duke,
23 Nov. 1965. Chief Bruno Efa, 30 Nov. 1965. Chief Maurice Efana Archibong,
19 Jan. 1966.
• Jones, ‘Political Organisation’, pp. 134-5.
92 THE ERA OF THE PALM-OIL TRADE
squadron, they were a minority.5 For traders were unlikely to buy
slaves inland until they had sold their stocks in Calabar; and the
fact that the slave trade continued even after 1834, when Akpabuyo
was well established, meant that slaves temporarily unshipped could
be sold later.
It is tempting therefore to assume that slaves were being diverted
from the export trade to the collection and production of palm oil in
Akpabuyo, as Nair has suggested.6 But Akpabuyo was virgin land,
and had no oil palm, which is secondary vegetation found only in
conjunction with agriculture. Commercial oil was not produced there
in the nineteenth century, and to this day little is produced.7
However, the area may have been peopled to grow food for Cala­
bar, which was so dependent upon the Cross River markets for
supplies. The legend of Akpabuyo’s discovery lays great emphasis
on the fertility of the land. By the middle of the century Calabar was
taking produce from Akpabuyo, for during the war among the
slaves there in 1852, food prices rose sharply.8 Nevertheless farming
may not have been the real reason for settlement, as recent studies
indicate that the area is not very fertile.0
Probably the movement of slaves to this area owes more to the
political situation in Calabar than it does to directly economic
motives. The more potential warriors that a ward possessed, the
greater its power. To Duke Ephraim the discovery of Akpabuyo
provided an opportunity to build up a large reservoir of retainers
who would provide their own maintenance. Once he had begun to
settle slaves there, the other wards had to try to follow suit, if they
were not to be overwhelmed.
Thus the Duke converted his profits from the oil trade, and the
dying slave trade, to the purchase of slaves for Akpabuyo. His
superior wealth is reflected in the fact that he established by far the
largest number of villages there.10 This could still be observed in
1963, when of the 71 villages there, 23 were in Duke ward, 11
in Etim Effiom, 4 in Archibong, 7 in Eyamba, 5 in Henshaw, 7 in
Ntiero, 10 in Cobham, and 4 in Obutong (Old Town).11 As Etim
' Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 426.
• m ’ ??• 54-7' ’ See Chapter 5, p. 86.
• p/lrwic^> PP- 263-4, cit. Anderson, 9 Aug. 1852.
, ..Hh1Tarl’Map4-LandUs'-P-6-
' » ? cni"son> Impressions, pp. 144-5. Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 497.
Minkter Lisl of Principal Efik Villages at Akpabuyo, in X. N. Ephraim to
r of Customary Courts and Chieftaincy Affairs, Thru Provincial Com-
 THE OIL TRADE AND EFIK SOCIAL HISTORY 93
Effiom and Archibong ward only separated from Duke ward long
after the settlement of Akpabuyo,theirvillages must be added to those
of Duke ward to show the approximate balance of power in Duke
Town at the time of settlement.
Although Nair has stated that it was the development of the oil
trade which led to the incorporation of slaves into Efik society,12 in
fact slaves had long been ward members. What was new was the
expansion of the wards with large numbers of agricultural slaves
living some distance away from the townships. While this did not
cause any problem at first, by the middle of the century tensions grew
up between the urban dwellers, and the agricultural slaves, as the
latter developed a communal life of their own. The tendency for the
farm slaves to consider themselves virtually independent of the towns­
men was increased by the fact that the death of Duke Ephraim in
1834 left the biggest group among them with no clearly recognized
master. By 1850 they were reluctant to acknowledge any direct master
at all.13 They constituted the first internal force for change in Efik
society.
During the late forties slaves from various wards escaped from
their masters to the farms, to avoid harsh punishment,11 and when
Duke Ephraim’s son John died in 1846,“many of his slaves fled to
the farms to avoid the massacre which normally took place on the
death of important men.10 These funeral sacrifices became a major
cause of contention between the farm slaves and the ‘gentlemen’ of
Duke Town, in 1850. In February an Ekpe law was passed abolishing
funeral sacrifices, as a result of pressure from the Mission and the
Captains.17 There was unrest among the slaves during the next few
months, and in June another Ekpe law was passed making it a capital
offence for slaves to abscond.18 But unrest continued, and when King
Archibong seized some of the farm slaves later in the year, the rest
bound themselves with a blood oath to resist the arbitrary treatment
missioncr, Calabar Province, Calabar, 31 July 1963 (copy in the author’s
possession).
11 Nair, p. 63.
13 UPCMR 6, (Aug. 1851), 118, cit. Goldie’s Journal, 12 Dec. 1850.
11 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 379.
15 Ibid., p. 293.
10 Ibid., p. 295. See Chapter 7, below.
17 Marwick, pp. 231-7, cit. Anderson’s Journal, 5-16 Feb. 1850. Extract from
UPCMR 5 (July 1850), in McGear to Palmerston, (Undated) (Aug. 1850),
FO84/818.
18 Waddell, Journal, vol. 8, p. 19, 27 June 1850.
94 THE ERA OF THE PALM-OIL TRADE
of the freemen in Duke Town. They plundered a farm belonging to
King Archibong’s mother, and only restored their loot when the
captured slaves were released. To settle the matter they demanded to
be treated as freemen, and that funeral sacrifices be absolutely
abolished, as they did not believe this had already happened.19
Thus they achieved freedom from the arbitrary actions of the
freemen.
But, at the end of January 1851, the farm slaves entered Duke
Town as a body, in what Dike has suggested was a revolt to secure
‘full emancipation’.20 Jones, with whom Nair largely agrees,21
interprets this invasion not as an attempt to gain liberty so much as
to demand freedom from capricious ill treatment such as funeral
massacres.22 However, they had already gained this the previous year,
and a closer analysis of the situation reveals that the slaves were
Duke-ward slaves who had been summoned to town by King
Archibong to support him in a political move against his rivals in
Eyamba ward. This will be discussed more fully in the next chapter.
That the slaves were prepared to support the King reveals clearly
that they did not have revolutionary aims.23 Now they had secured
fair treatment, they were content to remain the agricultural sector of
Duke Town, supporting their ward leaders in inter-ward politics.
The Duke-ward slaves were again invited to town a year later,
when King Archibong, also of Duke ward, died in February 1852.
Obuma, the King’s mother, wanted the slaves to force the Eyamba-
ward leaders to submit to the poison ordeal to determine whether
they had used witchcraft to kill the king.21 She thereby hoped to
destroy the Eyamba candidates for the succession. Rather than face
the ordeal the two leading Eyamba chiefs fled from town for a while,
suffering a damaging loss of prestige.25 However, the slaves did not
use their new-found political power to overthrow their freemen, but
returned to the farms. There a war broke out between the slaves of
the late Henshaw Duke, and the slaves of the late John Duke, over
the division of the 100,000 coppers Obuma had paid them for their

>• UPCMR 6 (Aug. 1851), 118, cit. Goldie’s Journal, 12 Dec. 1850.
'■’Dike, pp. 155-9.
11 Nair, pp. 79-82.
22 Jones, ‘Political Organisation’, pp. 148-57.
22 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 477, and Journal, vol. 8, p. 62, 5 Feb.
1851.
22 Marwick, pp. 258-60, cit. Anderson.
22 Anderson, Journal, 7 Feb. 1852. Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 498.
 THE OIL TRADE AND EFIK SOCIAL HISTORY 95
intervention.20 Peace was not made until 6 August 1852.2’ However,
the slaves maintained their ameliorated conditions, although the
headmen benefited most, the ordinary field hands being little better
off than before.28
At Creek Town there was a large expansion of agricultural slaves
in the area behind the town during the reign of King Eyo II, which
ended in 1858.20 Like Duke Ephraim, Eyo converted the profits of
the large share of the export trade which he had gained into slaves,
for political reasons. Although forbidden to take the blood oath by
the King in 1851,30 his slaves united under the oath on his death in
1858, and entered the town to prevent any funeral sacrifices.31 They
reappeared on the death of Eyo III in May 1861, to kill Egbo Eyo
who it was believed had procured the King’s death by witchcraft.32
Thus at Creek Town as at Duke Town the farm slaves united initially
to secure freedom from arbitrary murder, but having achieved this
did not overthrow the freemen but chose instead to support their
ward leaders in the internal political interplay. Having improved
their position within the existent social and political system it became
their interest to uphold it. They did not seek freedom from their
slave status.
During the remaining years of the sixties the farm slaves busied
themselves with their agriculture, and did not play an active part in
urban politics. But in 1871 both King Archibong and Eyo VI fell ill,
and their ward slaves at Duke Town and Creek Town entered the
towns to seek the enemies of both men, who were supposedly using
witchcraft to induce their illnesses. The missionaries, however,
thwarted the slaves.33
It is clear then that the farm slaves were still an important political
force. Yet they were essentially conservative in outlook, and, now
they had secured freedom from arbitrary treatment, were contented
ward members, and did not even seek to penetrate the upper echelons
of Efik society, with the possible exception of George Duke, one of
20 Anderson, Journal, 10 Feb. 1852. Marwick, p. 263, cit. Anderson, 9 Aug.
1852.
27 Anderson, Journal, 7 Aug. 1852.
28 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 558.
22 Ibid., pp. 320, 366, 462, 604, and 643.
20 Waddell, Journal, vol. 8, p. 61, 3 Feb. 1851.
21 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, pp. 643-4.
22 Ibid., pp. 650-1. Goldie, Calabar, pp. 210-13, cit. Mr. Timson.
22 Marwick, pp. 486-90, cit. Anderson’s Journal, 29 May-5 June 1871. Goldie,
Calabar, pp. 233-5.
96 THE ERA OF THE PALM-OIL TRADE
the Duke-ward slave-leaders. Their continued ward allegiance was
demonstrated in the war in 1884-5 between Duke and Archibong
sections of Duke ward which led to the separation of the Archibongs
as an independent ward.31 To this day the people of the Duke Town
and Creek Town farms consider themselves ward members. Hence
it can be said that the great expansion of agricultural slaves during
the nineteenth century caused no revolutionary change in Efik
society; the basic ward-structure which had emerged during the
days of the external slave trade continued unaltered.
2. The upward mobility of the urban trading-slaves
The movement among the agricultural slaves for better treatment
was paralleled by an improvement in the status of some of the leading
trading-slaves. And just as it was Duke-ward slaves, particularly
those of Great Duke Ephraim himself, who led the movement at the
farms, it was the Duke-ward trading-slaves who were most successful
in improving their social and political status.
Duke Ephraim had built up a vast centralized trading organization
which encompassed nearly all the external trade in slaves and oil.
Slaves had played a prominent part in this organization, both as
agents and canoe captains. Consequently when the Duke died with­
out an heir in 1834,35 these slaves were left in control of his business
empire. As the trading network was the foundation of his ward’s
prosperity, these slaves also inherited influential positions in Duke
ward, dominating it. To this day such a ward member is head of
Efiom Edem (Great Duke) section.30 Acting the roles of freemen,
the leading slaves began to seek the acknowledged symbols of free­
dom during the 1850s. Accordingly they constituted the second
internal pressure upon the Efik social structure.
The uppermost group in Efik society were the ‘gentlemen’ who had
bought the highest grades in Ekpe. To enter these grades one had to
be a freeman, and rich. While in theory freemen had to be descended
from a founding father, a more liberal interpretation obtained by
the mid-1850s, as Anderson noted:
There is no impassable gulf between the depths of bondage and the heights
of gentlemanship, such as it is, in this country. All slaves born in Old
31 See Chapter 7.
36 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 497, Chief Ene Ndcm Ephraim Duke, 23
Nov. 1965. Chief E. Ekpenyong, M.B.E., 9 Dec. 1965.
33 Chief Thomas A. Efiom, M.O.N., 7 Dec. 1965, Chief E. Ekpenyong, M.B.E.,
3 Dec. 1965.
 THE OIL TRADE AND EFIK SOCIAL HISTORY 97
Calabar are termed half-free', the children of the half free are sometimes
termed three-quarters free, but more frequently, I think, whole-free. The
half-free cannot, in ordinary circumstances, be sold out of the country.
More than this, they are allowed to purchase four or five of the nine
different grades of Egbo. Their children may buy all the grades save one or
two, which are reserved by the ‘proper free’ for themselves.37

Thus it was that the leaders of Eyo ward, descended from the slave
born Eyo Nsa, and the leaders of Eyamba and Duke wards, descend­
ants of the illegitimate, outcast twins, Ofiong and Efiom Okoho, were
by this time considered freemen, and were important office-holders
in Ekpe and the council.38 Like them, the great slaves now began to
seek assimilation to the rank of ‘gentleman’.
In 1850, the year the farm slaves asserted themselves, an Ekpe law
was passed prohibiting persons, who did not own all the grades of
Ekpe, from wearing long shirts or morning gowns.39 This was de­
signed to distinguish the ‘gentlemen’ from those of equal or greater
wealth, who could now afford the outer trappings of status. One such
was Iron Bar of Duke ward,40 who apparently gained his opportunity
at the death of Duke Ephraim, for when his master died, he brought
up his children, traded for them and himself, and became wealthy
and important.41 Although a slave and excluded from Ekpe privileges,
he was King Duke Ephraim’s right-hand man, and was the next most
influential man in Duke Town before dying in about 1851-2.42
As he was excluded from Ekpe he must have made his influence felt
in the council, membership of which was open to any man of in­
fluence.43 By so doing he set an important precedent, and after 1855
other great slaves became council members.
Jones and Nair have both recognized that wealthy slaves were
important at this time,44 but neither has identified these men. How­
ever, it is reasonable to assume that council members signed the
treaties and official letters, which exist from the period 1842-62.
In Chart 6 there is an analysis of these signatories, which shows that
after 1855 several were of slave origin. Of the 35 names which
appear more than twice on these documents, 20 are identifiable. 5
were certainly slaves, 4 of which were from Duke ward, reflecting the
37 Marwick, p. 326, cit. paper by Anderson on Slavery, 27 Jan. 1855.
38 See Chapters 3 and 4. 33 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 438.
80 Efiom Edcm Iron Bar, 15 Jan. 1966.
81 Waddell, Journal, vol. 10, p. 73, Waddell to Blyth, (undated) (March 1855).
83 Marwick, p. 258, cit. Anderson, 12 Feb. 1852.
83 Chapter 3, p. 40. 88 Jones, Trading States, p. 190. Nair, p. 69.
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 THE OIL TRADE AND EFIK SOCIAL HISTORY 99
fact that Duke-ward slaves were most successful in improving their
status. Bassey Henshaw Duke appeared on 13 of the 19 documents,
Yellow Duke on 12, Black Davis on 11, and George Duke on 4,
although the latter was a farm slave not a trading-slave. The fifth
man, Bassey Africa, mentioned on 5 documents, was from Eyamba
ward.
It was the wealth and influence derived from their business suc­
cesses which enabled these slaves to advance, but only a select few
who were given permission to trade directly with the ships were
allowed to achieve commercial success. This is indicated in the follow­
ing quotation from E. E. Offiong’s Judgement Book:
. . . after the death of Efiom Edem, (Great Duke Ephraim) the second
Yellow Duke remains with Edem Odo (King Duke Ephraim) and was a
storekeeper at the time not every man or chief who use to go to Hulk for
business transaction and was greatly assisted by the King whereof Yellow
Duke became rich. The reason why the King allowed Yellow Duke this
priviledges [stc] was that he may compute [stc] with Bassey Henshaw.45
By contrast the ordinary canoe boys remained as servile as ever.
The advance of the great slaves was furthered by the poverty of
the Efik Obongs who succeeded Great Duke. King Eyamba went
bankrupt,10 King Archibong I, although wealthy and a successful
trader, only reigned for five years,47 and King Duke Ephraim was a
poverty-stricken drunkard.48 The reason for such poverty probably
lies in the fact they were contemporaries of Great Duke, and had so
long been excluded from trade, that they had no business knowledge
or experience. Inevitably they were forced to rely on the superior
know-how of the slaves who managed the trade.
Nair attributes the increased wealth and influence of the great
slaves in these years to his belief that slaves could inherit their
fathers’ property, and not have it divided up among numerous
relatives, like the freemen. But there is no basis for this theory, for a
slave’s property reverted to his master on death.4’
45 Ofion Asibon v. Bassey Duke & House. Claim: To recover the Estate of late
yellow Duke, 5 Oct. 1903, Native Council of Old Calabar, No. 376, E. E. Ofliong’s
Judgement Book (1902-), p. 232.
45 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 274.
47 Marwick, pp. 215-16, cit. Anderson’s Journal, 28 May 1849.
44 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, pp. 392-3.
Bcecroft to Malmesbury, 30 June 1852, FO84/886.
40 Chief Asuquo Okody, 9 Feb. 1966. Chief Thomas A. Effiom, M.O.N.,
21 Dec. 1965.
H
100 THE ERA OF THE PALM-OIL TRADE
Although the great slaves obtained positions of influence in the
council, Jones has stated that they were excluded from the upper
grades of Ekpe.M But there is evidence to prove that some did buy
the highest grades, in the late fifties and early sixties. An entry in the
Black Davis House Book, 24 November 1861, reads:
In the day yellow Duke buying all Egbo people &c to let him have
negrobell for the foot according to our fashion for dancing so they
agree Duke Town and Creek Town charge him twenty (20) boxes of
rods all Calabar allow him to buying this because he is Proper man
to help Calabar in every so allow him to buy this as any Egbo man
Put down name.
Doctor Eyo King of Creek Town
Prince Archibong II
King Eyo Honesty VI Creek Town
Eke Eso Old Town
Offiong Enian Ikoneto
Black Davis
George Duke
Boco Duke
Ephraim Adam
Toby (?)
Offiong Effeo Iwat
Egbo Etam Henshaw
Egbo Young Hogan
Ephraim Lewis
And witness to writing by Big Adam Duke. 51
This reveals that Yellow Duke was being allowed to purchase the
right to wear a distinctive article of dress allowed only to those
privileged in Ekpe.sz Equally important is the fact that Black Davis
and George Duke signed the document, implying they had already
achieved this distinction. Further evidence that Yellow Duke did
purchase the highest Ekpe grades at this time is the fact that he erected
a wooden two-storey house of the kind allowed only to the holders
of the highest grades.53 That Black Davis had indeed bought the top
four grades is indicated by a statement in the Black Davis House
Book to that effect.51
" States, p. 190.
« \v^a?ia^s House Book’ 24 Nov- 1861- P- 38-
“ Chirff’ Twen,y-Ni"t Years, pp. 266, 356.
12 Apr 1862UqU° Okody'9 Dec-1965' Ma™ick, p. 398, cit. Anderson, Journal,
'• Black Davis House Book, 27 July 1874, n. 39.
 THE OIL TRADE AND EFIK SOCIAL HISTORY 101
The success of these great slaves in entering the class of ‘gentlemen’
who owned the highest grades of Ekpe was due to their wealth, as had
been their acceptance in council a few years earlier. For Archibong II
was as financially inept as his predecessors, and by 1862 Yellow Duke
was his creditor.55 Moreover, the Eyamba ward, traditionally in­
fluential in Ekpe, was impoverished and of reduced importance at
this time as a result of its overweening schemes for political ag­
grandisement.50 The poverty of the ‘gentlemen’ made it difficult for
them to refuse the entry fees of these rich slaves. There was also
sound political judgement behind allowing the wealthy slaves to
become ‘gentlemen’, for otherwise they might use their wealth to
mobilize the rest of the slave population against the rulers. By
admitting the great slaves, the ‘gentlemen’ were binding them to
support the existing structure of society.

Chart 7
Duke Town signatories of Treaties and Agreements
1875-1884

1 1I
f,5 g I
iulhl I «
_l_
4 o
2 3 4
George Duke________
Henshaw Duke
Yellow Duke________
E LZ
xl
ix
X

X
2<
x
x 2<_
x 2£
X_
X
2<_ 2<_
Prince Duke_________
Hogan Ironbar_______
zp
x!
X
X
_x_
X
2< 2<_
x 2< X
X

Adam Ironbar_______ xl X 2<_ x X

Archibong III________ _ x_ 2?_ X 2L x_
Prince Archibong.il ix 2<^ X 2£ 2<x_
Prince Archibong III
James Ephraim Adam
ZEX X
x x x_ x
x_ x
Prince James Eyamba V X Jx X X 2<_ 2<_
Joseph Eyamba X _ IX 2< 2<_
EfTiong Eliualt_______ x! 2<_ X 2< 2L
Eyo E.Ndcm________ X 2L _x X
x 2<_ x x
Henshaw Toby_______
Total 15 6 4
X
JO
X
n
Names mentioned only once have been omitted
Source: see Appendix 6.
6D Burton to Russell, 22 May 1862, No. 16, FO84/1176.
50 See Chapter 7.
102 THE ERA OF THE PALM-OIL TRADE
The analysis of official documents of 1875-84, Chart 7, shows that
men of slave origin continued to be represented on the council. Of the
fifteen names which appear more than once, Yellow Duke, George
Duke, and the brothers Hogan and Adam Ironbar, descendants
of the first influential Iron Bar who died about 1851, were of
unfree birth. Both Yellow Duke and George Duke had become
Ekpc gentlemen in the sixties, but it is not known if the Iron Bar
brothers followed suit. It is possible that they did, for as late as 1888
Coco Otu Bassey, also of unfree origin, obtained the highest
grades.67
However, in the late seventies and eighties there was a determined
attempt by a new generation of leading freemen to curb the ambitions
of the great slaves. Prince Duke claimed George Duke’s estate on his
death in 1879,58 and Yellow Duke’s estate on his death in 1888.59
Indeed this period marks an attempt at retrenchment by the Efik
leaders against the social changes of the previous thirty years.
Presumably they feared that their own position would soon be com­
pletely undermined, and that the entire social and political structure
might disintegrate. For not only were they subject to the pressure
of infiltration by the great slaves, but they were also worried by the
increasing numbers of British-protected people who were establishing
themselves at Old Calabar. These will be dealt with next.

3. The Mission
The first of these foreign groups to establish themselves in Calabar
was the Mission. Nair has dismissed the importance of the Mission in
Efik social and political development,00 but although the Mission was
small in numbers, it had an influence out of proportion to its size,
he missionaries contributed to the improvement in slave conditions,
or they were opposed to slavery on principle,01 and were always
rea y to save a slave from cruel treatment by his master.02 Early after
dr arrival they determined to secure the abolition of funeral
sacn ices, which resulted in the passing of the Ekpe law against this
" AndL°r 50CS Basse>'. 20 Apr. 1888, First Folder, Coco Bassey Papers.

“NXppS.TlOkOdy>9Feb 1966-
« Waddell’32,8, Anderson’s paper on Slavery, 1855.
pp. »^rs6pp-2sU 4o3-5-
 THE OIL TRADE AND EFIK SOCIAL HISTORY 103
custom in 1850.01 Yet the Mission was unable to break the institution
of slavery itself, which continued into the twentieth century.
The missionaries were more successful in obtaining the abolition
of some of the unpleasant and cruel customs of Calabar, such as the
murder of twin babies,05 and the poison-bean ordeal, used to deter­
mine whether a person was guilty of witchcraft.00 In 1878 an agree­
ment was signed between the Chiefs and Consul to prohibit these
practices.07 Other ways in which the Mission influenced Efik life was
in teaching some of the children to read, and in gaining a few con­
verts to Christianity. The latter effect may have been of great personal
significance to the people concerned, but did not alter Efik society
in general. Indeed the impact of Christianity on the structure of Efik
society was nil.
Where the Mission, as distinct from Christianity, had an effect was
in establishing a community which was contingent with Efik society,
but apart from it. At each Mission house, a household grew up
independent of the customs and mores of Calabar. Some of the
members had come with the Mission from elsewhere, but increasingly
the missionaries gathered round them local people given to them as
presents, and twin babies rescued from the bush.08 More important,
refugees from Efik justice sought the protection of the Mission,
especially at Duke Town.00 In Efik eyes all these people belonged to
the missionaries, and were the slaves of the house or ward ruled by
the missionaries as freemen, and they were even known among the
Efik as ofn tnakara or ‘whitemen’s slaves’.70
At first the Mission households were able to live peaceably, and the
refugees went about their daily affairs unchallenged, informally under
British protection.71 Many were baptised.72 However, the mission-
M Marwick, pp. 231-7, cit. Anderson’s Journal, 5-16 Feb. 1850. Extract from
UPCMR 5 (July 1850), in McGear to Palmerston, (undated) (Aug. 1850),
FO84/818.
66 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 442.
•• Ibid., p. 279.
07 Agreement on Twin Murders, Sacrifices, Trade and Commerce, 6 Sept.
1878, No. 33, FO84/1508.
08 Goldie, Calabar, pp. 369-70. Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, pp. 511-12.
Marwick, p. 288, cit. Anderson, 30 Nov. 1853. Marwick, p. 355, cit. Anderson’s
Report for 1856. Anderson to Hartley, 8 Oct. 1875, Calprof Ibadan, 4/1
vol. 4.
“ Marwick, pp. 212-13, cit. Anderson’s Journal, 22 and 23 Apr. 1849.
70 Chief Thomas A. Efiom, 25 Jan. 1966.
71 Beecroft to Malmesbury, 20 May 1852, FO2/7.
72 Marwick, pp. 336-7, cit. Anderson’s Report for 1855.
104 THE ERA OF THE PALM-OIL TRADE
aries wanted formally to emancipate their Efik household members,73
and in 1855 Consul Hutchinson began to grant them emancipation
papers,71 which became a standard practice.75 But by the early 1870s
the Duke Town authorities began to fear that the granting of emanci­
pation and British protection to these people was a threat to their
position. Many more slaves might escape to the Mission, receive
manumission papers, and thereby cease to be their subjects.
The situation came to a head over Egbo Bassey, a former steward
of King Eyamba V who had fled to the Mission in 1849,75 when
accused of theft.77 Baptised78 and emancipated,79 he worked hard,
married, and bought slaves who were also emancipated.80 But soon
after the accession of Archibong HI in 1872,81 Prince Thomas
Eyamba82 tried to reclaim Egbo Bassey and his people,98 forcing him
to flee to Fernando Po.81 Then it became apparent that the Efik
authorities were concerned about all such emancipadoes, for in 1875
King Archibong informed Consul Hartley:
. . . those who were not redeemed from us by the mission with money,
should leave my country entirely unless they agree to sign a document that
they will remain at the mission still in submission to their respective master
& consider themselves to be my subjects. ... If the custom of giving free
papers continues, it will become a serious matter to me as I shall lose my
subjects and my country will be ruined .. ,8W
Because further attempts were made in 1876 to re-enslave emanci­
padoes,85 the Foreign Office was forced to clarify the situation, stating

31 Jan ni856OFOO84/100hinSOn’18 Jan’ 1855,in Hutchinson,oClarendon,No-111

uutcti.nson to Clarendon, No. 11, 31 Jan. 1856, F084/1001.
. »<TUtC7lnson to Clarendon, 24 June 1856, No. 77, F084/1001. Hutchinson
I860 ST^^FOM/IH?1859’ ST 101 FO84/1087' Laughland to Russell, 1 Dec.
Marwick, cit. Anderson’s Journal, 22 Apr. 1849, and 23 Apr. 1849.
m" ■ <Jn ,0 Hartlcy. 8 Oct. 1875, Calprof Ibadan, 4/1 vol. 4.
’• a *'wick» PP- 336-7, cit. Anderson’s Annual Report for 1855.
.0 Ibid" t0 Hart,Cy’ 6 July 1875’ Ca,Prof Ibadan, 4/1, vol. 4.
■= EehTn1’’ P' 5041 cit’ Andcrson. 28 Aug. 1872.
•> M8,™-tSSCy Ha,rtley. 17 June 1874, Calprof Ibadan 4/1, vol. 3.
'• Eohn n^’ P' 531’ c'*’ Anderson’s Journal, 20 Apr. 1875.
... ArrhiK s7..,° Hartl°y. 17 June 1874, Calprof Ibadan 4/1, vol. 3.
•s Alev Hartlcy. 4 Oct. 1875, Calprof Ibadan, 4/1 vol. 4.
McKelhr /°s5t0 Act- Con. McKellar, 24 Apr. 1876, Calprof Ibadan, 4/1 vol. 5.
Ballantvne A,°uu'8n Secretary. 9 Sept. 1876, No. 45, FO84/1455. Cobham,
Calprof Ibadan 4/3 ™'o|°20nE Hcnny ,0 Forei8n Secretary, 18 Sept. 1876,
 THE OIL TRADE AND EFIK SOCIAL HISTORY 105
that such people were not entitled to British protection unless at­
tempts were made to re-enslave them or to prevent them trading.80
This precipitated a rush of demands for British protection from slaves
who had enjoyed increasing freedom during the middle years of the
century, but who were now being subject to the reactionary backlash
against this liberalism from the new generation of Efik leaders.
James Egbo Bassey87 and his brother petitioned for British protection
in 1877 as the authorities were trying to enslave them and their people,
and prevent them trading.88 In 1881 Peter King Cameroons sought
protection because he was being oppressed, for although a slave, he
had become a family head.89 Okon Ma sought protection the same
year, because Archibong III was trying to reduce him to slavery.90
And in 1883 George Duke, son of the George Duke who had been
one of the most successful great slaves, requested British protection
because King Duke had taken his late father’s estate.91
Thus the Mission’s impact on Efik society was felt in procuring
British protection for the refugee slaves, who became members of
their households. It was seen by leading slaves in Efik society that
British protection and emancipation did remove the onerous demands
which their masters might make. Consequently, when the new gener­
ation of Efik freemen, who dominated Efik politics from the early
seventies, began to repress those slaves who had enjoyed considerable
liberty in the middle years of the century, they turned to demand
British protection. British protection became a shield behind which
the oppressed slaves in Calabar could shelter.

4. The liberated Africans

The group of emancipated slaves associated with the Mission were
not the only threat to the control of the Efik oligarchy. The Chiefs
became increasingly concerned about another group under British

•• F.O. to Hartley, 10 Apr. 1877, No. 7, FO84/1487.

87 Not to be confused with Egbo Bassey aforementioned. Egbo Bassey, father
of James Egbo Bassey, died before 1868. Egbo Basscy of the Mission was alive in
1874. Marwick, p. 443, cit. Anderson’s Journal, 15 May 1868. Egbo Bassey to
Hartley, 17 June 1874, Calprof Ibadan 4/1, vol. 3.
88 James Egbo Basscy to Tait, 1 Oct. 1877, Calprof Ibadan, 4/1 vol. 10. Ibid.
17 Nov. 1877, Calprof Ibadan 4/1 vol. 6. Petition of James Egbo Bassey 2nd,
(undated) Nov., 1877, Calprof Ibadan, 4/3 vol. 2.
89 Petition of Prince James Eyamba V on behalf of Peter King Cameroons and
family of Duke Town, to Earl Granville, 20 Sept. 1881, FO84/1612.
»» Memorial of Okon Ma to Earl Granville, 27 Sept. 1881. FO84/1612.
81 Memorial of George Duke to Earl Granville, 13 July 1883, FO84/1654.
106 THE ERA OF THE PALM-OIL TRADE
protection which was expanding in Calabar, the free Africans from
other parts of the coast.
The first of these was Fergusson, a Cape Coaster who had been on
the Niger expedition in 1841, and became King Eyo Il’s clerk shortly
afterwards.02 But it was not until 1854 that any significant number of
liberated Africans settled in Calabar, a little later than in Yoruba-
land. There Sierra Leoneans established themselves in the forties,
becoming a vital force in commerce and education.03 The Revd.
Jones of the C.M.S. in Sierra Leone visited Calabar in 1853, and
obtained Eyo’s word that he would welcome liberated slaves who had
come from the locality.01 The first of these immigrants arrived in
1854, on the new mail steamers. They did not settle at Creek Town,
but chose to live on the Mission ground at Duke Town. There were
seven families, each of whom built a hut. Mostly they were old people
wanting to end their days in the region of their childhood.05 But in
1855, two of them began to trade with the local people for oil, sending
the oil to Britain on the mail packets.05 The supercargoes there
persuaded King Duke to order the Sierra Leoneans to leave, lest
large numbers come and take over the country.07 Consul Hutchinson
prevented their eviction, thereby establishing that, while not British
subjects, they were to receive British protection.08
Nevertheless, opposition to the liberated Africans continued, and
in 1858 King Duke informed Hutchinson,

A number of Sierra Leone men and others have come here to reside in my
town now these men say they are Englishmen and British subjects and arc
not amenable to any law of mine, I do not understand when man do bad
thing, and keep no law, that he say he be Englishman, and you must tell
man come for any town for live here that he live for my country law, when
he live here. Some carpenter and sawyer come for do work for we, we like
that and pay them but they must have law for keep, but plenty other
Sierra Leone man come here have nothing, and have only theif for do, to

" Waddell, Journal, vol. 1, 16 Apr. 1846, p. 30.

“J. F. A. Ajayi, Christian Missions in Nigeria, 1841-1891 (London, 1965),
pp. 25-52.
** Goldie, Calabar, p. 166.
,D Anderson to Hutchinson, 17 June 1856, Inc. 2 in Hutchinson to Clarendon,
24 June 1856, No. 76, F084/1001.
’• Chapter 5, p. 59-61.
07 Anderson to Hutchinson, 17 June 1856, Inc. 2 in Hutchinson to Clarendon,
24 June 1856, No. 76, F084/1001.
“ Hutchinson to Clarendon, 24 June 1856, No. 76, F084/1001. Clarendon to
Hutchinson, 19 Oct. 1856, F084/1001.
 THE OIL TRADE AND EFIK SOCIAL HISTORY 107
get chop, you must tell all them men to go away he no use for we and only
bring palaver.”

In 1859 Hutchinson sent two Sierra Leoneans back to the colony,

one for arson and the other for slave stealing, and the Efik pressed
them to expel them all.1 But the number of liberated Africans
continued to increase, especially after the crash in the oil trade in
1862. During the next two years the number of Sierra Leoneans and
Accra men increased from thirty to fifty, and they caused considerable
trouble by trading, owning slaves, and playing the chiefs, mission­
aries, and agents off against one another.2 In 1867 Livingstone
complained of the ‘turbulent Accra natives’ in Duke Town, who were
constantly quarrelling with the Calabar people.3
Apart from the trouble they caused, the liberated Africans had little
impact on the cultural and political life of Calabar. Some became
church members.4 Fergusson had done some teaching in the 1840s,5
and it was in education that they made their greatest contribution.
The local traders preferred to send their children to these men for
lessons, as the English and arithmetic they taught was more useful
for business, than the Efik and Bible studies the missionaries
concentrated upon. By 1872 there were at least three running
schools.0
Nevertheless, the wave of reaction which overtook the Efik
gentlemen in the seventies culminated in an attempt to eject the free
Africans. In 1874, the year that Egbo Bassey fled to Fernando Po,
the carpenters, coopers, tailors, and clockmakers from Sierra Leone,
Accra, and Cape Coast asked the Consul whether they were entitled
to British protection, as they were being oppressed by the Efik.7 Next
year King Archibong III sought clarification on this point, as the
free Africans were refusing to abide by local law and were claiming

BB King Duke Ephraim to Hutchinson, 6 May 1858, Inc. 5, in Hutchinson to

Malmesbury, 25 May 1858, ST 23, FO84/1061.
1 Hutchinson to Hill, 28 Feb 1859, Inc. 1 in Hutchinson to Malmesbury,
24 Feb. 1859, ST 4, FO84/1087.
2 Burton to Russell, 15 Apr. 1864, FO84/1221.
3 Livingstone to Stanley, 27 Apr. 1867, No. 7, FO84/1277.
4 Marwick, pp. 336-7, cit. Anderson’s Report for 1855.
5 Waddell, Journal, vol. 1,16 Apr. 1846, p. 30.
2 Marwick, p. 509, cit. Anderson’s Annual Report for 1872. Ibid., p. 517, cit.
Anderson's Annual Report for 1873.
7 Memorial of Samuel Fuller, Daniel J. Josiah, etc., to Hartley, 21 Aug. 1874,
Calprof Ibadan, 4/1, vol. 3.
108 THE ERA OF THE PALM-OIL TRADE
to be British subjects.8 But by July 1876 many had left Calabar as the
Efik were threatening to massacre them, and those remaining were
seeking immediate British protection? That autumn Archibong made
his attitude clear when he informed the Court of Equity:
... I will in no wise have any African born British Subjects in my Country
who will not abide by the law of my country with the exception of the Hulk
and Cask house dwellers.
I therefore implore the Court to inform the said British Subjects dwelling
in Old Calabar Towns under my control that those who will not abide by
my Country law must leave my Country entirely or abide in one of the
Hulk in my river if they choose.1”
But the court refused to act, and the liberated Africans remained.11
Two years later, in 1878, King Archibong was still hoping to be rid of
them, and Consul Hopkins was describing them as ‘the most meddle­
some and dangerous people on the Coast’.12 The Foreign Office agreed
with Hopkins, but was unwilling to withdraw protection from them.13
By the end of that year there were only 26 free Africans—a drop in
numbers from the 50 of 1864—because of the recent troubles: 9 were
from Sierra Leone, 13 from Accra, and one each from Lagos, Mon­
rovia, St. Kitts, and Fernando Po. Eight were carpenters, 4 tailors, 3
blacksmiths, 3 clerks, 2 traders, a butcher, a teacher, a sempstress,
a cook-steward, a servant, and one ‘washing and sewing’, all of whom
had arrived in the previous eleven years.1'1
Seven years later, in 1885, their numbers had increased to 48, of
which 24 were from Sierra Leone, 13 from Accra, 7 from Lagos, and 4
from the West Indies. Five of them owned slaves, making 10 slaves in
all.15 This slave-holding had long been a cause of Efik opposition,
for they had held slaves as early as 1864,1Gand in 1876 Prince Thomas
Eyamba had reclaimed a girl one of them had bought and was seeking
8 Archibong III per P. Eyamba to Hartley, 8 Oct. 1875, Calprof Ibadan, 4/1
vol. 4.
’ Jas. A. Croker to ?, 5 July 1876 Calprof Ibadan 4/1 vol. 5. James Africanus
Croker to Hewett, 20 July 1876, Inc. in Hewett to McKellar, 13 Sept. 1876,
Calprof Ibadan 4/1 vol. 5.
10 Archibong III to Court of Equity, 10 Oct. 1876, Calprof Ibadan, 3/2.
II J. B. Walker, Chairman, to Court of Equity, 10 Oct. 1876, Calprof Ibadan,
3/2.
12 Hopkins to Foreign Secretary, 28 Aug. 1878, No. 29, FO84/1508.
13 F.O. internal memo re Hopkins, No. 29, FO84/1508.
11 List of British Subjects resident at Old Calabar (internal evidence gives date
Nov.-Dec. 1878) Calprof Ibadan 4/1, vol. 5.
“ Act. Con. White to Granville, 9 Feb. 1885, Africa, No. 13, FO84/1701.
Burton to Russell, 15 Apr. 1864, FO84/1221.
 THE OIL TRADE AND EFIK SOCIAL HISTORY 109
emancipation papers for.17 The Chiefs feared that the purchase of
slaves by free Africans, who then sought emancipation papers for
the people they bought, would lead to slaves being removed from
Efik control as when the Mission emancipated refugees. Vice-Consul
White therefore tried to prohibit free Africans from redeeming
slaves,18 but was overruled by the Foreign Office.19
So it was that the Efik fought a losing battle against the influx of
British-protected Africans. Like the emancipated Mission servants,
they revealed to maltreated Efik slaves that they might escape ill use
by seeking British protection. Moreover, these free Africans were
another group resident in Calabar for whom the British government
owned responsibility, and therefore represented an extension of
British influence into Calabar affairs. After the establishment of
full British protection in 1891, the numbers of such people living in
Calabar, but not under Efik rule, increased rapidly.20

5. The European traders

Apart from the Qua and Efut communities which were peripheral
to the evolution of Efik social and political life, the last important
group at Calabar were the European traders, with their crews and
hands. These men were independent of Efik society. Each ship was a
self-governing unit, with European officers and a mixed crew of
Europeans and Africans. Their relationship with the Efik was purely
commercial, although in the twenties and late seventies several
joined Ekpe in order to facilitate the collection of debts.21 While cask
houses were rented on shore,22 the Europeans and their men lived
aboard ship or hulk.
At the height of the oil season in the fifties, there would be several
hundred Europeans in Calabar, officers and men, but with the decline
of the oil trade in 1862, and its consequent reorganization to the hulk
system, the numbers dropped to a maximum of about three hundred.23
By 1874, when the hulk system was completely established, with
17 Van dcr Grypc to McKellar, 6 Sept. 1876, Calprof Ibadan, 4/1 vol. 5.
18 Act. Con. White to Granville, 1 Feb. 1885, Africa, No. 8, FO84/1701.
10 F.O. internal memo, re White to Granville, 1 Feb. 1885, Africa No. 8,
FO84/1701.
20 Goldie, Calabar, pp. 353-4.
21 Holman, p. 392. Chapter 5, pp. 80-1.
22 James Badgley, Report on the old Calabar River, in Owen to Croker, 21
Feb. 1828, CO82/1.
23 Burton to Russell, 15 Apr. 1864, FO84/1221.
 110 THE ERA OF THE PALM-OIL TRADE
resident agents aided by hands who were usually Krumen, the
numbers of Europeans resident in Old Calabar were few.24
In 1857 Mr. Inglis and Mr. Smith, when they arrived to ship oil
on the mail steamers, tried to live on shore. Unable to find local
accommodation, they were allowed to stay at the Mission, until the
captains protested.25 Then they obtained permission from the King
to build their own house, well away from the Mission.26 But many
local people opposed this move in a great meeting called to discuss
the situation:

All the mischief [they said] arose from the missionaries living on shore.
They lived too long, and showed others how to live long also; and soon
they would see all the white people living on shore, and more would come,
till they would be too many. Before time white people lived all on ship­
board; and while they lived in their ships the country was safe. They used
to get sick and die soon, and were afraid to stay one year in the river. Now
they won’t die; the missionaries teach them to live long; so they stop in
Calabar two or three years, and fill two or three ships before they go back
to England.27

Hence they pressed that the Mission be sent home, and the captains
be kept to their ships.28 While the Mission was allowed to stay, the
general antipathy to the traders settling on shore led them to choose
instead to live on hulks from the early sixties.29 Indeed, Consul
Livingstone was one of the first Europeans to live ashore, when he
transferred the Consulate to Calabar in 1872-3, although he lived at
one of the Mission houses.30 At about the same time Capt. J. B.
Walker established two schools and an experimental farm.31 In
1874 he sought permission from the King to build a house inside his
cask house. Louch, another trader, had already built a house, but had
to pay an extortionate rent, and the King demanded a similar rent
21 Marwick, p. 530, cit. Anderson’s Annual Report for 1874.
25 Supercargoes to Hutchinson, 25 July 1857, Inc. 1 in Hutchinson to Claren­
don, 31 Aug. 1857, ST 50, F084/1030. Waddell to Hutchinson, 7 Aug. 1857,
Inc. 4, in Hutchinson to Clarendon, 31 Aug. 1857, ST 50, F084/1030. Waddell,
Twenty-Nine Years, pp. 609-10.
26 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, pp. 611-12.
27 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 612.
28 Ibid.
23 Burton to Russell, 15 Apr. 1864, FO84/1221.
30 Livingstone to Granville, 19 Oct. 1871, FO84/1343. F.O. to Livingstone,
2 Feb. 1872, FO84/1356. F.O. to Hartley, 21 Aug. 1873, No. 3, FO84/1377.
Hartley to Granville, 17 Jan. 1874, FO84/1401.
31 Marwick, p. 509, cit. Anderson’s Annual Report for 1872, and p. 529, cit.
Anderson’s Journal, 21 Apr. 1874. Whitford, p. 297.
 THE OIL TRADE AND EFIK SOCIAL HISTORY 111
from Walker.32 These high rents were presumably designed to dis­
courage traders from dwelling ashore, and in 1881 they were still
living in hulks.33 Although the Efik refused to agree to the Article in
the Protection Treaty of 1884 allowing foreigners to have factories
and houses wherever they wished,31 the agents did begin to live ashore
soon afterwards, for they were addressing letters from their ‘factories’
in 1885.35 By 1891 the African Association owned a property known
as Fort Stewart, which contained a dwelling house.30 With the estab­
lishment of the Consular administration of the 1890s, the Europeans
finally established themselves on shore, and hulks became a thing of
the past.37
So the European traders themselves remained isolated from Efik
society until after 1891. The Efik had always recognized that they
were a potential threat to Efik society, and consequently were always
determined to prevent them establishing themselves on shore. Their
direct impact on Efik society was negligible.
Thus the development of the oil trade did not of itself alter the
structure of Efik society which had been established in response to
the demands of the slave trade, because both trades were similarly
organized. But the wards did expand as the profits of the oil trade
were converted into self-maintaining agricultural slaves, potential
warriors. Duke ward expanded most, a reflection of Great Duke
Ephraim’s enormous wealth. There were, however, modifications
within the structure of Efik society, as the agricultural slaves de­
manded more humane treatment, and the great trading-slaves were
allowed to enter the oligarchy of ‘gentlemen’. Besides these internal
pressures, there were external pressures, as British-protected Africans
established themselves, both Mission emancipadoes, and free Afri­
cans, from other coastal towns. Ultimately a crisis developed, as the
oligarchy began to repress those slaves who had pretended to high
status. They in turn demanded British protection, the effectiveness of
32 Walker to Hartley, 28 Sept. 1874, Calprof Ibadan 4/1 vol. 3.
33 Harford, ‘Pioneering’, p. 585.
31 Treaty with Kings and Chiefs of Old Calabar, 10 Sept. 1884, Inc. 16 in No.
13, p. 27, FO403/47.
33 White to White, Palm Factory, 16 Apr. 1885, Calprof Ibadan, 3/1. Lyon to
Court of Equity, Hope Factory, 30 Nov. 1885, Calprof Ibadan, 3/2.
30 Major MacDonald to African Association, 8 Dec. 1891, Inc. 3 in No. 117B,
80D, FO403/171.
37 P.P. 1893-4 (655), Ixii, General Correspondence, Africa, No. 11, Corre­
spondence respecting the Affairs of the West Coast of Africa, No. 1, Sir C.
MacDonald to the Earl of Rosebery, 12 Jan. 1893. Goldie, Calabar, pp. 351-4.
112 THE ERA OF THE PALM-OIL TRADE
which they had observed in relation to the emancipadoes and free
Africans. In this way the internal and external forces united in a
political demand for British rule.
All these changes stemmed from the trade connection with the
West. If there had been no oil trade, there would have been no agri­
cultural slaves or great trading-slaves. Nor would there have been a
Mission, or free Africans, or British merchants and Consuls. But it
is not true that the change from the slave trade to the oil trade precipi­
tated social change by creating new groups based upon the oil trade
which challenged those who had been based upon the slave trade.
Such changes may have occurred in hinterland producing-areas, as
A. G. Hopkins suggest happened in Yorubaland.38 But they did not
occur in Old Calabar, an entrepot which merely dealt in both
commodities.
38 A. G. Hopkins, ‘Economic Imperialism in West Africa, Lagos, 1880-1892’,
E.H.R. 2nd Ser. vol. 21, no. 3 (Dec. 1968), p. 586-92.
 CHAPTER 7

The Oil Trade and Efik Political History

There are two main areas of interest in Efik political history from
the beginning of the palm-oil trade to the establishment of British
rule; first, Old Calabar’s domestic political history, and secondly, the
history of Anglo-Efik relations. This chapter will discuss both aspects.

1. Inter-ward political rivalry

In Chapter 4 it was shown that Efik domestic politics were prim­
arily concerned with the competition between the wards for the three
major political offices, the <?Z>ong-ship, Eyamia-ship, and Ebunko-
ship. It was the triumph of the new wards, Eyamba ward, Duke ward,
and Eyo ward, that they gained control of these offices during the
eighteenth century. Yet while the Ebiinko-sh\p remained unchallenged
in Eyo ward during the nineteenth century, serious inter-ward rivalry
continued for the other offices.
Two customs played an important part in resolving inter-ward
conflict for offices. The first of these was the massacring of many of
an important man’s slaves on his death.1 This weakened the power
of the deceased’s family, which prevented them replacing him with
another candidate. Hence it was a crude political mechanism which
tended to ensure that offices circulated among the wards. The second,
and more important, was the esere poison-bean ordeal, which
was believed to kill those drinking it who practised witchcraft.2 Its
political significance lay in the fact that when a leading man died, his
friends and enemies would accuse each other of having used witch­
craft to procure his death. Thus the various ward leaders had to
submit to the ordeal, from which many died and were eliminated
from the succession dispute.3 In this way successions were decided
without inter-ward warfare, and it was not until the late 1870s when

1 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, pp. 293-5, 336-8. Duke, ‘Diary’, p. 50, 6 and
8 Nov. 1786.
2 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 279.
3 Ibid., pp. 279, 497-8. Duke, ‘Diary’, p. 47, 10, 11, 18, and 19 July 1786,
p. 57, 15 Junc 1787.
H4 THE ERA OF THE PALM-OIL TRADE
these customs were abandoned that succession disputes became
insoluble.
Eyamba ward and Duke ward had together monopolized the
Obong-sh'vp during the eighteenth century, and when Egbo Young
Ofiong secured the jE)wi&a-ship late in the century, this office also
fell into their hands. Egbo Young Ofiong of Eyamba ward was the first
Chart 8
Political Divisions of Old Calabar c.1850

Creek Town

Cobham

Old Town

Duke Town

Duke Archibong

Cobham Eyamba

Henshaw Ntiero
 THE OIL TRADE AND EFIK POLITICAL HISTORY 115
man to be Obong and Eyamba,' and on his death both offices passed
to Great Duke Ephraim, the rival head of Duke ward. Under his
influence Duke ward expanded very rapidly in the early nineteenth
century, as the Duke capitalized on his position as Obong, Eyamba,
sole gatherer of comey, and virtual monopolist of external trade?
But on his death in 1834 the Eyamba ward and their allies conspired
to use both available political mechanisms to break the power of Duke
ward. Innumerable slaves were killed,0 and of the fifty people who
had to submit to the poison ordeal, over forty died, leaving Duke
ward almost bereft of potential political candidates.7 Consequently
the Eyamba candidate, Edem Ekpenyong, son of Egbo Young
Ofiong,8 took office as Eyamba V,9 both Obong and Eyamba.'0
However the accession of King Eyamba V did not mean that Duke
ward was permanently crippled. Although Great Duke’s own family
had been nearly wiped out in the succession dispute, there were still
freemen in other families of the ward who could present themselves
as candidates at a later date. And the economic power of Duke ward
continued, for the slaves who had been Duke Ephraim’s managers
carried on trading. This undermined King Eyamba’s position, for
prestige demanded that he present as good a display, and distribute
as much largess, as his predecessor. But whereas the Duke had the
vast wealth accumulating from his trade to draw upon, King Eyamba
did not, for he was an inadequate business man and could not com­
pete with the Duke ward slaves. Thus his expenditure outstripped his
resources,11 and he was imprisoned on board one of the ships for
debt,12 dying soon afterwards on 14 May 1847,13 in effect an un­
discharged bankrupt.11
King Eyo II of Creek Town also contributed to Eyamba V’s
misfortune by capturing a large share of the external trade. Father
Tom (Efiok Eyo) had become head of Eyo ward on the death of Eyo I
4 Eyainba title-holders in Ekpe, p. 37 , Chapter 4, p. 45-6.
5 Chapter 4, p. 47-8. 6 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 497.
’ Ibid., p. 279.
8 Genealogy of Eyamba title-holders in Eyamba Ward, p. 116.
0 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 311.
10 Eyatnba title-holders in Ekpe, p. 37.
11 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, pp. 243, 311. Gooch to Jones, 14 July 1845,
FO84/612.
13 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 274.
13 Ibid., p. 336. Hope to Hotham, 3 Dec. 1847, in Hotham to Admiralty,
24 Jan. 1848, FO84/746.
UPCMR 2 (Nov. 1847), 185, cit. Edgerley’s Journal.
14 Anderson to Hartley, 25 Sept. 1875, Calprof Ibadan, 4/1 vol. 4.
i
116 THE ERA OF THE PALM-OIL TRADE
t
in 1820,16 while Eyo Eyo, his younger brother, concentrated on
s
I trading,16 with the goodwill of Duke Ephraim for whom he had
1 worked as a boy.17 As Eyo Eyo grew wealthy, Father Tom allowed

Chart 9
Genealogy o/Eyamba Title-Holders in Eyamba Ward
Ekpenyong Offiong (111)
Edcm Ekpenyong (V) Nticro Ekpenyong (V!)
Efiom Edcm (VII) James Eyamba (X) Efiom John Eyamba(XI)
Adam John Eyamb;’a (XII) Efcfiom John Eyamba (XIII) EfTa John Eyamba
(XIV)
Source: Etubom Etta John Eyamba, 8 Feb. 1966.
ccording to Etubom Eyamba, Great Duke was made Eyamba IV,
Because he was a nephew of Eyamba III, and Edem Ekpenyong was still a
minor. Edem Archibong, Eyamba VIII, and Orok Edcm, Eyamba IX,
cre allowed by Eyamba Ward to be Eyamba as a special concession. Sec
Eyamba title-holders in Ekpe, p. 37.

reign “Wki3™ himself Obong of Creek Town early in Eyamba’s

spokesma 'Z ^at*ler T°m continued to be Ebunko,w Eyo II was now
directly yXh* f°re’8n affairs for Creek Town, and could negotiate
King Eva * h t'le ^uroPeans for comey and trust, circumventing
authority to p ’ W110 was unable to suppress this repudiation of his
slaves in th cons°hdated his position, employing thousands of
not to grow °t trade’ anc) settling other slaves on farms in the bush,
the farms w * ’ °Ut t0 gain commanti of the trade routes on which
policy until hre Strate8‘cahy placed. He continued this settlement
“Wadd *S deatb>21 converting surplus wealth into potential
18I50S1 Genralog° ofc'’ V0L 7’ p' 671 6 Jan' 18S0'Ibid" vo1' 10, p’ 361 13 Jan'
vo1; 7. P-'sT^’s’j’an36^11 3’8. WaddehTAwaV-Wne Years, p. 414, and Journal,

=» m-j’’ »-’&7e'"y'N‘"e Years< PP- 3H-13.

!,!bS::pppp3i>-3.
63(2°n3^6’ 604~S. Captain J. B. Walker, F.R.G.S., 9 Mar. 1875,
WaddJnforc 'hc SeU .1876)1 521 pp- 1849 (3O8)1 xix (,)1 Mil>utes of Evidence
Waddell. Select Committee on the Slave Trade, QQ 431, Revd. H. M.
 THE OIL TRADE AND EFIK POLITICAL HISTORY 117
warriors to support his ambitions, just as Duke Ephraim had done in
Akpabuyo.

Chart 10
Genealogy of Creek Town Obongs

Eyo Nsa (Eyo 1)

Efiok (Eyo IV) Eyo (Eyo II) Aye (Evo V) Ibok (Eyo VI) Okoho
I
Eyo Ete (Eyo III) Nsa Okoho (Eyo VII)
Source: Hart Report, pp. 125-31, paras. 281-90, Tables G, H, etc.

The death of Eyamba V in 1847 created a succession problem. The

elimination of many Duke-ward freemen in the 1834 succession
pogrom left only one obvious candidate from that ward, Duke
Ephraim (Ededem or Edem Odo),22 a brother of Great Duke
Ephraim,23 but an impoverished alcoholic.24 Eyamba ward’s candi­
date was Mr. Young, but he was also poor and an inadequate
businessman,23 sharing the financial ruin of Eyamba ward brought
on by King Eyamba. King Eyo II was a possible candidate, being
highly regarded by the British, and extremely wealthy.20 But the
Obong was finally selected by Lieutenant Selwyn of the Royal Navy,
who on the advice of the missionaries, supercargoes, and masters,
rejected Eyo because his only claim was wealth, and chose instead
Archibong Duke, of the Archibong family of Duke ward.2’ He was
the outside candidate, being young and inexperienced,28 but he was a
wealthy and successful trader,29 a cousin of Great Duke,30 and a
nephew and son-in-law of Eyamba V.31
12 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, pp. 392-3. Hart Report pp. 71-2, para. 192.
23 Genealogy of Elik Obongs, p. 44.
24 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, pp. 392-3.
22 Ibid.
23 Hope to Hotham, 3 Dec. 1847, in Hotham to Admiralty, 24 Jan. 1848,
FO84/746. Murray to Hotham, 24 Mar. 1848, in Hotham to Admiralty, 3 May
1848, in Ward to Eddisbury, 21 July 1848, FO84/748.
27 Selwyn to Fanshawe, 1 June 1849, in Admiralty to Eddisbury, 23 Nov. 1849,
FO84/785.
22 UPCMR 5 (Jan. 1850), 8, cit. Waddell's Journal, 22 Apr. 1849.
22 Marwick, pp. 215-16, cit. Anderson’s Journal, 28 May 1849.
20 Genealogy of Efik Obongs, p. 44.
31 Waddeli, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 337.
118 THE ERA OF THE PALM-OIL TRADE
Selwyn’s selection and crowning32 of Archibong has been seen as
an act of foreign interference,33 yet the fact that Archibong was
acceptable to the Efik shows that Selwyn’s choice was sympathetic to
local opinion. However, while a British officer might choose the
Obong, whose responsibilities were largely concerned with foreign
relations, he could have no influence over the selection of the Eyamba,
essentially a secret office. So Archibong did not become Eyamba,31
and for the next twenty-five years the two offices were held by separ­
ate people.
Mr. Young had the strongest claim to the EyamZ>a-ship as brother
of the late Eyamba,35 and, despite his poverty, had great influence
as Archibong’s chief minister.30 Yet the Eyam&a-ship lay vacant for
some years, as two entries in Anderson’s recently rediscovered journal
show. On 31 January 1851, he wrote ‘Evidently big palaver in market
place between Duke Town gentlemen and plantation slaves’. And
next day, ‘Great day in town—Mr. Young was made Eyamba or
keeper of all the Egbo’s’.37
However, despite Anderson’s entries, Mr. Young did not become
Eyamba.33 Previously it has been believed that the slaves who filled
the town on 31 January were in revolt.39 But they were Duke-ward
slaves, and the fact that Mr. Young was made Eyamba the day after
their arrival, suggests that they had been summoned by Archibong to
prevent Mr. Young assuming the Eyamba-ship. Rumours of some
such political motive were widespread at the time, although it was
hidden from the Europeans.10 In the face of the massed slaves, Mr.
Young must have withdrawn his candidacy. Poverty was the reason
for his lack of resistance and he was imprisoned on a ship for debt
that October.11 Because the Duke-ward slaves were prepared to back
Archibong, the impoverished and less numerous members of Eyamba
ward could not promote their candidate successfully. All they could

33 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, pp. 392-3.

33 Hart Report, pp. 71-2, para. 192.
31 Eyantba title-holders in Ekpe, p. 37.
33 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 393. Genealogy of Eyantba title-holders
in Eyamba ward, p. 116.
31 Ibid. Marwick, pp. 215-16, cit. Anderson’s Journal, 28 May 1849.
37 Anderson’s Journal, 31 Jan. 1851-1 Feb. 1851.
38 Eyantba title-holders in Ekpe, p. 37.
33 Chapter 6, p. 94.
40 Waddell, Journal, vol. 8, p. 62, 5 Feb. 1851. Beecroft to Palmerston, 4 Mar.
1851, FO84/858.
41 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 484.
 THE OIL TRADE AND EFIK POLITICAL HISTORY 119
do was to prevent anyone else becoming Eyamba. It was political
stalemate.
About a year later Archibong died, at noon on 4 February 1852.12
This re-opened the question of the succession to both the Ofcong-ship
and the Eyamfia-ship. Almost immediately Mr. Young began to sign
himself ‘Eyamba VI’.43 But again the Duke-ward slaves were
summoned to town, by the late King’s mother, who offered them
100,000 coppers if they would force the Eyamba leaders to submit to
the poison ordeal.41 In this way Duke ward hoped to smash the
Eyambas in revenge for the decimation of Duke ward freemen in
1834.45 The two wards confronted each other in the market place,
many on both sides dying from the ordeal as accusation and counter
accusation were made. But when Mr. Young was eventually
challenged, he deferred his turn to the next day, and fled during the
night to Creek Town, where his brother Antera joined him.40 King
Eyo came down from Creek Town to smooth matters over,47 but
Mr. Young’s prestige had been so greatly damaged by his flight that
Duke Ephraim of Duke ward was made Obong, although a drunk­
ard.48 Nevertheless the Eyambas continued to block the selection of
an Eyamba, and the office remained vacant until after Mr. Young’s
death on 11 February 1855.49 Then at last the problem was solved,
and by 1856 Mr. Young’s brother Antera (Ntiero Ekpenyong Ofiong)
had been made Eyamba VI.50
Duke Ephraim’s accession had been a bitter blow to King Eyo’s
ambitions.51 Eyo’s mediation in the ordeal crisis marks the height of
his political influence, for afterwards he was dogged by bad luck which
eroded his position. A fortnight after intervening at Duke Town, he
lost £8,000-10,000 worth of trade goods in a fire,52 and had to start
42 Anderson, Journal, 4 Feb. 1852.
43 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 497.
44 Marwick, p. 260, cit. Anderson. Anderson, Journal, 6 and 10 Feb. 1852.
45 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 497.
40 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, pp. 497-8. Anderson’s Journal, 7 Feb. 1852.
47 Anderson’s Journal, 9 Feb. 1852.
48 Beccroft to Malmesbury, 30 June 1852, FO84/886.
42 Marwick, p. 313, cit. Anderson, 28 Mar. 1855.
80 Eyamba title-holders in Ekpe, p. 37. Duke Town Chiefs to Hutchinson.
26 Aug. 1856, Inc. 4 in Hutchinson to Clarendon, 23 Sept. 1856, No. 115, FO84/
1001. James Haddison, King Duke Ephraim, and Anteiro Young Eyamba to
Hutchinson, 15 Sept. 1856, Inc. 8 in Hutchinson to Clarendon, loc. cit. Hutchin­
son to Malmesbury, 2 Mar. 1859, ST 8, FO84/1087.
51 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 414, and Journal, vol. 7, p. 67, 6 Jan. 1850.
52 Anderson, Journal, 27 Feb. 1852. Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, pp. 499-502.
120 THE ERA OF THE PALM-OIL TRADE
almost afresh to build up his wealth.63 Although previously he had
the largest share of the external trade,61 his position now began to
decline, and to fight this he turned increasingly to sharp practice.
In 1854 he refused payment on his newly imported house,66 and in
1855, with credit received from the supercargoes, he began to buy
oil, which he then shipped to England on the mail steamers.66 The
following year his two most important trading agents died, one being
his representative at Ikpa market.67 Consequently his influence at this
vital market declined, and in 1857 he ordered his people to burn the
factory of Bassey Henshaw Duke, a wealthy Duke-ward slave who
was depriving him of business.68 Matters were made worse for Eyo
by the continuing Umon-Akunakuna war which prevented 640-720
tons o oil reaching Calabar each year.69 Against this background he
1Pa nr jSt despera,e attempt to restore his fortunes, by chartering
■ 6 a' a,out from Liverpool, in 1857 and 1858, which he loaded
™'e ’ate y whilst still deeply in debt to the supercargoes of the
had "dr Con3panies-M Nevertheless his share of the river’s oil trade
1858 r™i<PC ro™ Per cent ’n 1852, to about 25 per cent in
one last ch'S Epbra’m’s death on 11 August 1858 63 gave Eyo
four monthsT"2 °f becomin8 Obong but ironically he died suddenly,
his death61 d °n 3 December.66 A fire in his premises soon after
and thereafter^ bnaI b,ow t0 Eyo wards P°*’tlcaI ambitions,
The success'ionTV0''''’ 8 imPortance declined rapidly.
although Anter Y° K1"S Dul<c EPhraim was solved fairly easily, for
old to press h^ , ?n8ofEyamba ward was still Eya/nba, he was too
ward, brother Of A3"’?.t0 be Obo"g-r‘!' So John Archibong of Duke
61 Goidir /- , , Archibong I, was chosen without any mass killings
“Treaty oF?±e’P?60-
“ Waddell, Tw„,.a"d Comm«ce, 17 Apr. 1852, Calprof Ibadan 5/7.
*• Cha4’tand P' 54’2 Jan Ysss*' 579‘ Waddc"’ Journal- voL 10’ p- 431 22
“ Bassey Hcn'hawnn'r " Wadd=”. Journal, vol. 11, p. 78, 9 July 1856.
C „r6ndon> 20 Fcb 18S7 o-i? Hutchinson, 31 Jan. 1857, Inc. 4 in Hutchinson to
don 3nPtC'?arS«6 to Hute? 8' F°84/1O3O.
r° Ju y 1856» No QiCtHSOn’ 30 Junc 1856,Inc- 1 in Hutchinson to Clarcn-
’jjchinson to Clarendn» \.O84/1001. Chiefs to Hutchinson, (undated), Inc. 1 in
“ Hutehhs5' P' 61 Feb- *857’ ST 12’ FO84/103°-

-as.wiiehewn’o Hbta Feb. 1SSF, !..< I ,n HulehlB-

Hutchinson to Ma|Fcb- <«c) 1859, ST 4, FO84/1087.
"■■mesbury, 2 Mar. 1859, ST 8, FO84/1087.
 THE OIL TRADE AND EFIK POLITICAL HISTORY 121
or poison orgies. The amicable nature of the succession was marked
by the fact that Antera Young, the Eyamba, crowned the new Obong
in August 1859.°' However this acceptance of Archibong II by the
Eyamba ward may simply represent their recognition of their own
weakness. The last reference to Antera Young is in I860,07 and he
probably died soon afterwards. But Archibong did not become
Eyamba, and a son of Eyamba V, Efiom Edem Ekpenyong, was made
Eyamba VII.08 Virtually nothing is known of this man except a vague
reference in 1864.69
Although Archibong was Obong, considerable power actually lay
in the hands of the wealthy Duke-ward slaves who were so influential
in council and Ekpe from the middle fifties. The great slaves had
increased their share of the external trade as King Eyo’s fortunes
declined, but the ward leaders continued to be poor, as is evidenced
by the fact that Adam Archibong, the Obong’s brother, was imprisoned
on board ship for debt in 1859.70 So men like Bassey Henshaw, Black
Davis, and Yellow Duke were now important figures behind the
scenes, Yellow Duke for example being King Archibong’s creditor.71
Nevertheless, their support gave Archibong considerable power,
and one of the more notable political events of his reign was his
deprivation of one of King Eyamba V’s sons of his Ekpe privileges,
an action which Eyamba ward was powerless to prevent.72 The ward
agricultural slaves also continued to support Archibong, and when
he fell sick in May 1871, came to town to seek out and kill the King’s
enemies who it was believed were making him sick with witchcraft,
although the missionaries persuaded Archibong to send them away
again.73 The Obong died on 25 or 26 August 1872.’4
If the 1860s were a period of comparative political stability and
economic strength at Duke Town, Creek Town by contrast virtually
disintegrated in the aftermath of the collapse of King Eyo’s political
ambitions. His numerous slaves had united under the blood oath on
00 Marwick, pp. 376-8, cit. Anderson, 30 Aug. 1859.
07 Ibid., p. 386, cit. Anderson’s Journal, 8 Nov. 1860.
08 Genealogy of Eyamba title-holders in Eyamba Ward, p. 116. Eyamba title­
holders in Ekpe, p. 37.
C9 Burton to Russell, 15 Apr. 1864, FO84/1221.
70 Supercargoes to Hutchinson, 1 Mar. 1859, Inc. 1 in Hutchinson to Malmes­
bury, 21 Mar. 1859, ST 12, FO84/1087.
71 Burton to Russell, 15 Apr. 1864, FO84/1221.
72 Marwick, p. 407, cit. Anderson’s Journal, 12 Sept. 1864.
73 Ibid., pp. 486-91, cit. Anderson’s Journal, 30 May-6 June 1871.
74 Ibid., p. 505, cit. Anderson, 28 Aug. 1872.
122 THE ERA OF THE PALM-OIL TRADE
his death,’5 and would only accept Eyo’s son, Young Eyo, as master
by dint of much persuasion.” As Eyo III,” Young Eyo could not
cope with the problems confronting him, and took to drink.78 The
second Christian convert in Calabar,70 though long since ex­
communicated,80 he bled to death when a syphilitic ulcer burst81 on
12 May 1861 ,sa The slaves filled the town and hanged Egbo Eyo, one
of Eyo H’s brothers, and Inyang Eyo, Young Eyo's half-sister, on
suspicion of killing the King with witchcraft.83 Although Father
Tom, Eyo Il’s eldest brother, was made Eyo IV in 1862,8,1 the slaves
would not accept him as master and chose instead Eyo Okon, a slave
and close friend of Young Eyo, as their head.85 The town population
dispersed amongst the farms,80 and so greatly had Creek Town’s
trade declined that her share of the comey was reduced this same
year.87 By 1864 Creek Town was being boycotted by the Europeans
because she owed oil to 20 ships.88 As Eyo Okon was the real power
in Creek Town, Eyo IV was ineffectual,80 and he died on 22 March
1865.°° During the brief interregnum, Duke Town made a peace
settlement with Enyong without consulting Creek Town, a gesture of
contempt for Creek Town’s weakness.01 Aye or John Eyo, another
of Eyo H’s brothers'was crowned Eyo V in 1865,02 and restored some
degree of amity in relations with Duke Town.03 He died on 11 June
1868, and was succeeded by Ibok or Doctor Eyo, another of Eyo Il’s
76 Goldie, Calabar, pp. 197-201. Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, pp. 643-4.
UPCMR 14 (Mar. 1859), 48-50, cit. Goldie’s Journal, 18 Dec. 1858.
70 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 644.
77 Hutchinson to Malmesbury, 2 Mar. 1859, ST 7, FO84/1087.
78 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, pp. 644-5, 647-9.
78 Marwick, p. 286.
80 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 574.
« UPCMR 16 (Aug. 1861), 150. Burton to Russell, 15 Apr. 1864, FO84/1221.
82 UPCMR 16 (Aug. 1861), 149.
82 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, pp. 650-1. Goldie, Calabar, pp. 209-13, cit.
Mr. Timson.
81 Burton to Russell, 22 May 1862, No. 16, FO84/1176.
88 Goldie, Eyo VII, p. 15.
82 UPCMR 17 (1 Sept. 1862), 166, cit. Goldie, 27 June 1862.
87 Laughland to Russell, 21 Jan. 1861, ST 3, FO84/1147. Agreement of Trade
and Commerce, 5 May 1862, Inc. 4 in Burton to Russell, 22 May 1862, No. 16,
FO84/1176.
88 Burton to Russell, 15 Apr. 1864, FO84/1221.
87 Goldie, Calabar, pp. 216-18. UPCMR 20 (1 July 1865), 135.
81 Ibid. 20 (1 Nov. 1865), 204-5, cit. Goldie’s Journal, 17 May 1865, and 23
May 1865.
72 Ibid. 20 (1 Nov. 1865), pp. 205-6, cit. Goldie’s Journal, 9 June 1865.
72 Ibid., n.s. 1 (May 1867), cit. Goldie’s Journal, 19 Nov 1866.
 THE OIL TRADE AND EFIK POLITICAL HISTORY 123
brothers, as Eyo VI.91 Creek Town’s economic decay continued,95
and in 1870 Archibong was threatening war against Eyo,90 but before
this could break out Eyo died on 25 June 1871.9’ He was the last of
Eyo I’s sons to survive, and so his death marks the end of an era in
Creek Town’s history.

2. Political disintegration
Up to 1872, Efik politics had been concerned with the struggle
between the wards for the offices of Obong and Eyamba. This man­
oeuvring took place within the basic political mechanism of the state.
Even when Eyo ward declared their leader Obongof CreekTown, they
continued to recognize the Eyamba, and the Ndem. But after the
deaths of Eyo VI in 1871 and Archibong II in 1872, a noticeable
degree of political disintegration took place, as both wards and
individuals appealed more and more to external powers against the
traditional authorities, and as some sections of Efik society sought to
opt out of Calabar entirely.
The licensing of the first Efik minister, Esien Esien Ukpabio, in
January 1871 was symbolic of the change overcoming the political
scene in Old Calabar.98 For a whole new generation of political
leaders was about to move into positions of influence. These men
had been children when the Mission arrived in 1846, and had all
been brought up, to some degree, under its influence. It was they who
were to tear Calabar apart.
But at first there appeared to be greater harmony at the centre of
Efik political life than had obtained since King Eyamba V’s day.
Adam Archibong, Archibong III, was made both Obong and Eyamba,
the first man to hold both offices since 1847, and only the second
member of Duke ward ever to hold the office.99 This was only
possible with the agreement of Prince James Eyamba, leader of
’* Ibid., N.S. 2 (Sept. 1868), 170-1, cit. S. H. Edgerley. Wilson to Foreign
Secretary, 23 Feb. 1869, No. 8, FO84/I308.
05 Livingstone to Stanley, 28 Dec. 1867, No. 38, FO84/1277. Livingstone to
Clarendon, 3 Dec. 1869, No. 36, FO84/1308. Ibid. 10 June 1870, FO84/1326 (no
number).
30 Goldie, Calabar, pp. 230-2. UPCMR n.s. 3 (1 May 1871), 480, cit. Goldie’s
Journal, 7 Nov. 1870.
07 UPCMR n.s. 3 (1 Nov. 1871), 672, cit. Anderson’s Journal, 28 June 1871.
38 Marwick, p. 501.
33 Eyamba title-holders in Ekpe, p. 37. Marwick, pp. 510-11, cit. Anderson,
25 Mar. 1873, and p. 577, cit. Archibong III Eyamba VIII to Anderson, 15 June
1877.
 124 THE ERA OF THE PALM-OIL TRADE
Eyamba ward, an old Mission scholar who was Archibong’s chief
advisor.1 But as Archibong was old and blind,2 Prince James had
considerable influence and was virtually the power behind the
throne.3 The Eyamba ward was re-emerging as a political force
from the doldrums in which it had languished in the sixties.
However the closer alliance of the two major wards at Duke Town
did not mean that the other wards were content. Indeed the members
of Henshaw ward were provoked by this change in ward alliance to
seek complete political independence by declaring their own Obong,
and attempting to leave Calabar. Although the Henshaws were the
rump of Efiom Ekpo lineage, from which Ntiero ward, Eyamba
ward, and Duke ward had separated, the latter two wards had long
since overshadowed them. The Henshaws had not had a successful
Obong-ship candidate for about two centuries, and since the 1820s
had been denied a share of the comey? But their final humiliation
came when the Ndem shrine was rebuilt on 23 June 1867? As they
were the senior family, it was traditionally the Henshaws’ task to
erect the pillars at the front of the shrine. But the people of Duke
Town came early in the morning and put up the pillars, thereby
claiming seniority. Insulted, the Henshaws, many of whom were
living in Duke Town, decided to re-establish themselves at their old
village nearby? Archibong II sanctioned the rebuilding of the village,
and by February 1871 work was well under way.’
By introducing Christian-inspired reforms into their new village,
the Henshaws cleverly obtained the interest and support of the
Mission and Consul? Encouraged, they then decided to create
their own Obong, despite the contrary advice of the Mission and
agents? King Henshaw III was crowned on Christmas Day, 1872,10
1 Marwick, p. 507, cit. Anderson.
2 Ibid., p. 505, cit. Anderson, 28 Aug. 1872.
3 Prince Eyamba to Chairman and Court of Equity, 2 Mar. 1874, Caiprof
Ibadan 3/2.
* Duke, ‘Diary’, p. 46, 23 June 1786. p. 62, 25 Oct. 1787. Bold, p. 77. Sec also
Chapter 4 p. 44.
6 UPCMR N.s. 1 (Oct. 1867), 407, cit. Anderson’s Journal, 23 June 1867.
• Chief Joseph Henshaw, 10 Dec. 1965.
’ Marwick, p. 481, cit. Anderson’s Journal, 17 Feb. 1871.
8 Ibid., p. 484, cit. Anderson’s Journal, 30 Mar. 1871. UPCMR n.s. 3 (1 Nov.
1871), 672, cit. Anderson’s Journal, 28 June 1871.
8 Henshaw Chiefs to Act. Con. Hopkins, 16 Feb. 1871, Caiprof Ibadan 4/1
vol. 2. Marwick, p. 481, cit. Anderson’s Journal, 17 Feb. 1871, and p. 483, cit.
Anderson’s Journal, Il Mar. 1871.
10 Ibid., pp. 507-8, cit. Anderson’s Annual Report for 1872. Livingstone to
Granville, 20 Jan. 1873, No. 16, FO84/1377.
 THE OIL TRADE AND EFIK POLITICAL HISTORY 125
but although the Consul had been invited to the ceremony he did
not attend.11 Archibong and Prince James Eyamba and the Duke
Town Chiefs were determined to squash this unilateral declaration
of independence, and Prince James with great diplomatic skill united
the agents and Ekpe members against the Henshaws.12 In retaliation
the Henshaws exploited their good relations with the Consul by
seeking his help, and offering to put themselves under his protec­
tion.13 Fearing another situation like the Bonny-Opobo war, the
Consul intervened, and having received an assurance from Archibong
that the Henshaws would be allowed to govern themselves un­
molested, persuaded them to hand over their crown.11 They were
fined three hundred boxes of brass rods by the King and the crown
was burned in Duke Town market.15
By 1874, King Archibong was an invalid,15 and Prince James
Eyamba began to use the King’s name to pursue his own policies.17
Friction between Duke Town and Henshaw Town had continued
since 1873, and in 1875 Archibong used Ekpe to ban the Henshaws
from trading in salt. In retaliation they seized Prince Duke (Orok
Edem) of Duke ward.18 Eyo VII of Creek Town secured his release,
but Duke Town demanded Chief James Henshaw be handed over
to them for punishment. This was refused, and on 7 September
1875 war broke out between Duke Town and the Henshaws. About
a couple of dozen people were killed, mostly Henshaws, and that
evening Chief Henshaw escaped to a hulk. The agents acted as go-
betweens, and it was agreed that Chief Henshaw be handed over to
Duke Town, and Henshaw Town evacuated and put to the sack.19
11 Adam Archibong to Consul, 17 and 24 Dec. 1872. Inc. 1 and 2, in Living­
stone to Granville, 20 Jan. 1873, No. 16, FO84/1377. King Henshaw III and
Chiefs to Livingstone, (undated) (Jan. 1873), Inc. 3 in Livingstone to Granville,
20 Jan. 1873, No. 16, FO84/1377.
15 Adam Archibong to Livingstone, 24 Dec. 1872, Inc. 2 in Livingstone to
Granville, 20 Jan. 1873, No. 16, FO84/1377. Marwick, pp. 507-8, cit. Anderson’s
Annual Report for 1872.
13 King Henshaw III and Chiefs to Livingstone, (undated) (Jan. 1873), Inc. 3
in Livingstone to Granville, 20 Jan. 1873, No. 16, FO84/1377.
“ Livingstone to Granville, 20 Jan. 1873, No. 16, FO84/1377.
10 Black Davis House Book, 15 Jan. 1872 [s/'c].
13 Pro. Archibong King Regent, to Court of Equity, 8 May 1874, Calprof
Ibadan 3/2.
17 Prince Eyamba to Court of Equity, 2 Mar. 1874, Calprof Ibadan, 3/2.
13 Statement of Henshaw Town, 20 Aug. 1878, paras. 6-12. Calprof Ibadan 4/1
vol. 6.
13 Marwick, pp. 534-8, cit. Anderson to Revd. John Law, John Chisholm, etc.,
14 Sept. 1875.
 126 THE ERA OF THE PALM-OIL TRADE
Again the Consul intervened, and the Henshaws were allowed to
return to their village after swearing allegiance to King Archibong,
and being guaranteed the same rights as the freemen of Duke
Town.20
But the Henshaws were not satisfied with this settlement, and in
1876 they petitioned Lord Derby for an independent enquiry,21
although they subsequently withdrew this demand.22 In 1877
Joseph Henshaw, the second Henshaw Chief, complained of Duke
Town oppression,23 and went to Fernando Po to seek the Consul’s
help.21 And in December the same year the Henshaws again petitioned
Lord Derby.25 Consequently Consul Hopkins made an enquiry, and
discovered that the Henshaws had been excluded from Ekpe, which
prevented them knowing of new laws which they were punished for
breaking. Moreover, their trade had been ruined because Archibong
had prohibited the purchase of oil in quantities less than a puncheon
which they could no longer afford because of the war. Hence they
wanted to leave Calabar for the Rio del Rey or Qua Ibo, and live
under British protection.20 Fearing that the Henshaws might inter­
fere with Jaja of Opobo’s markets, or traditional Efik markets, if they
left Calabar,27 Hopkins persuaded them to come to terms with Duke
Town. The Henshaws were to recognize Archibong as Obong, and to
obey him on all matters not contrary to Christian conscience. In
return, Chief Henshaw was to have a place on the council, and Duke
Town was not to interfere in Henshaw Town, besides which all
restrictions on trade were removed.28
The Henshaws had shown considerable diplomatic skill in obtain­
ing this settlement, having courted ever since 1871 the favour of the
20 Henshaw Town-Duke Town Agreement, 28 Sept. 1875, in Hartley to Derby,
30 Oct. 1875, No. 46, FO84/1418.
21 Petition of Henshaw Chiefs to Earl of Derby, 18 Feb. 1876, in McKellar to
Foreign Secretary, 29 Feb. 1876, No. 11, FO84/1455.
22 J. Henshaw to McKellar, (undated) (Mar. 1876), Calprof Ibadan, 4/1 vol. 5.
22 Joseph Henshaw to Senior Naval Officer in Command of the West Coast of
Africa, 18 Nov. 1877, Calprof Ibadan, 4/3 vol. 2.
21 Statement of Henshaw Town, 20 Aug. 1878, Calprof Ibadan, 4/1 vol. 6,
para. 19.
22 Statement of Henshaw Town, 20 Aug. 1878, Calprof Ibadan, 4/1 vol. 6.
20 Statement of Henshaw Town, 20 Aug. 1878, paras. 17-21, and conclusion,
Calprof Ibadan, 4/1 vol. 6.
27 Hopkins to Foreign Secretary, 6 Sept. 1878, No. 33, FO84/1508.
28 Agreement between Henshaw Town and Duke Town, 6 Sept. 1878, in
Hopkins to Foreign Secretary, 6 Sept. 1878, No. 33, FO84/1508. Trade Agree­
ment, 6 Sept. 1878, in Hopkins to Foreign Secretary, 6 Sept. 1878, No. 33,
FO84/1508.
 THE OIL TRADE AND EFIK POLITICAL HISTORY 127
Mission and Consul to bring British influence to support them
against the powerful caucus of Duke ward and Eyamba ward acting
in concert. To ingratiate himself with both Mission and Consul,
Chief Henshaw had even been baptised in March 1878.2® Yet not all
the Henshaws were satisfied with the settlement, and Joseph Hen­
shaw, an extremely enterprising trader, decided there was no future
for himself in Calabar, and moved to Oron on the other side of the
river.30 There he introduced cocoa, the first cash crop to be grown
on the Cross River, which he had seen growing at Fernando Po on
his visit there in 1877.31 In conjunction with George Watts, who had
long associated with the Henshaws, and may have been their political
advisor,32 he attempted to open the Qua Ibo area for palm produce,
in order to have an economic base independent of Calabar. This
attempt was thwarted by Jaja of Opobo.
While in Calabar to make this enquiry, the Consul crowned
Adam Archibong as Archibong III, even though he had actually
been Obong since Archibong Il’s death six years earlier.33 But
Archibong did not long survive his coronation, and died on the
night of 5-6 May 1879.31 His death marked a turning-point in Efik
history.
During Archibong Ill’s reign, Creek Town had been torn by in­
ternal dissension which only hastened its economic and political
decline. Eyo Vi’s death in 1871 had provoked a succession dispute.
Whereas since Eyo Ill’s death the line of succession had been clear,
passing to each of Eyo I’s surviving sons in turn,35 now an entirely
new line of succession had to be established. At first there was com­
parative stability, because Eyo Okon, the slave who was the real
power in Creek Town since Eyo Ill’s death, continued to hold sway.
But after his death on 3 June 1873, serious disturbances ensued.30
However, on 25 February 1874, Nsa Okoho, known as Henshaw
29 Waddcl, Mrs. Sutherland, p. 121, Obong Henshaw to Mrs. Sutherland,
16 Mar. 1878.
2n Henry Cobham of Calabar v. Idiok Une, of Uyaron, Oron, in Calabar
Divisional Court, 1937, supplied by Chief Efana Daniel Henshaw, 21 Dec. 1965.
31 R. E. Dennct, ‘Agricultural Progress in Nigeria’, African Affairs, Journal of
the African Society, 18 (July 1919), 280. Chief Michael Henshaw, 18 Nov. 1965.
Chief Joseph Henshaw, 6 Dec. 1965.
32 Adam Archibong to Livingstone, 24 Dec. 1872, Inc. 2 in Livingstone to
Granville, 20 Jan. 1873, No. 16, FO84/1377.
33 Marwick, p. 566, cit. Anderson’s Annual Report, for 1878.
31 Ibid., p. 567, cit. Anderson, 8 May 1879.
35 Genealogy of Creek Town Obongs, p. 117.
30 Goldie, Calabar, p. 237.
 128 THE ERA OF THE PALM-OIL TRADE
Tom Foster, was made King Eyo VII.37 He was a grandson of Eyo I
through his mother, Okoho.38 However the Ambo ward would not
accept him as Obong,m and in June 1875 he was forced to flee to the
Cobham-ward section of Duke Town, with the intention of starting
a new settlement on the other side of the river.40
The cause of the turmoil went back to Eyo I, who had been
honoured with free status, and a princess as a wife, by the Ambos.
In disgust, many Cobhams, members of the other ward at Creek
Town, moved to Duke Town. Eyo II was the son of this Ambo
princess, and was consequently acceptable as Obong to the Ambos,
but not to the Cobhams, many more of whom left for Duke Town
at the time of his elevation. Eyo III had been acceptable to the
Ambos because he was the grandson of their princess. Eyo IV, Eyo V,
and Eyo VI were insignificant figures, real power lying in the hands
of Eyo Okon, so that their lack of connection to the Ambos was not
important. But Eyo VII was descended from a Cobham princess who
had been a wife of Eyo I. The Ambos feared that their arch-rivals the
Cobhams would use their influence with the new Obong against Ambo
interests, and therefore were adamantly opposed to him.41 Eventu­
ally, however, the matter was settled and Eyo returned to Creek
Town.42
The death of Archibong III in 1879 created a situation at Duke
Town similar to that which had arisen in Creek Town on the death
of Eyo VI. Archibong was the last of the generation of Great Duke
Ephraim’s contemporaries, and after his death the principle of
succession for a new generation had to be decided upon. There was
no longer a generally recognized series of venerable old men, whose
order of succession could be determined by their order of seniority.
Since the accession of King Duke Ephraim in 1852 there had been
no serious succession dispute, as there had been no serious rivals to
the candidates for the Ohong-ship. Now, however, a three-cornered
dispute broke out.43 The Eyamba ward candidate was Prince James
37 Hart Report, pp. 101-2, para. 245. Hartley to Granville, 20 Mar. 1874, No. 7,
FO84/1401.
38 Genealogy of Creek Town Obongs, p. 117.
33 UPCMR n.s. 5 (1 Feb. 1875), 369, cit. Goldie’s Journal, 29 Sept. 1874.
Ambo Chiefs to Hartley, 6 Oct. 1874, Calprof Ibadan, 4/1 vol. 3. UPCMR N.s.
5 (1 May 1875), 463, cit. Goldie’s Journal, 17 Nov. 1874.
"■Goldie, Calabar, p. 241. UPCMR N.S. 5 (1 Nov. 1875), 649, cit. Goldie's
Journal, 7 July 1875.
31 Hart Report, pp. 129-30, paras. 287-8 . 43 Goldie, Calabar, p. 241.
43 Hewett to Granville, 17 Feb. 1882, ST 5, FO84/1617.
 THE OIL TRADE AND EFIK POLITICAL HISTORY 129
Eyamba, son of King Eyamba V.44 Duke ward provided two candi­
dates, Prince Duke (Orok Edem), son of King Duke Ephraim,15 and
Prince Archibong III (Archibong Edem), son of King Archibong
III."5 The latter represented the Archibong section of Duke ward,
and signified that there was internal dissension in Duke ward.
The situation was complicated by the fact that the traditional
mechanisms for resolving succession disputes had been abolished—
funeral sacrifices in 1850, and the crucial poison-ordeal only the
year before, in 1878.'” Moreover Prince James Eyamba was a leading
Christian, being an elder of the church and superintendent of Sunday
schools, and was in any case opposed to these traditional mechan­
isms.48 As a result, only negotiation or war could solve the succession,
and as negotiation failed, disorder broke out.
In an attempt to bring an end to the chaos, Acting Consul Easton
crowned Prince Duke as King Prince Duke Ephraim Eyamba IX, in
March 1880.4’ He was both Obong and Eyamba." But this foisting
of a King upon the Chiefs and people did not satisfy them, and dis­
content continued.51 So Consul Hewett asked the Chiefs to assemble
and elect a King of their own choice.52
The re-opening of the dispute gave Prince Duke’s rivals time to
organize their campaigns. Most diplomatically skilful was Prince
James Eyamba. While chief advisor of Archibong III, he had used his
diplomatic ability to pursue the joint interests of Duke ward and
Eyamba ward, but now he directed his energies against Duke ward.
This was the traditional Eyamba ward position in Efik politics. As
Archibong’s chief minister he had witnessed at first hand the effective­
ness of the Henshaws in courting the good favour of the Mission and
Consul, in order to obtain British support for their policies. And he
had also seen how effective British protection had been, in preventing
the re-enslavement of Mission emancipadoes, and the ejection of free

44 Genealogy of Eyamba title-holders in Eyamba Ward, p. 116. Anderson to

Hartley, 9 Oct. 1875, Calprof Ibadan, 4/1, vol. 4.
45 Genealogy of Efik Obongs, p. 44.
4“ Chief Ephraim Duke, 9 Dec. 1965.
47 Agreement, in Hopkins to Foreign Secretary, 6 Sept. 1878, No. 33. FO84/
1508.
48 Marwick, p. 577, cit. Anderson to Chisholm, 25 Mar. 1881.
40 Easton to Foreign Secretary, 23 Apr. 1880, No. 30, FO84/1569.
00 List of Eyamba title-holders in Ekpe, p. 37.
81 Hewett to Granville, 16 Aug. 1880, No. 23, FO84/1569.
63 Foreign Office to Hewett, 19 Oct. 1880, No. 22, FO84/1569. Hewett to
Granville, 17 Feb. 1882, ST 5, FO84/1617.
130 THE ERA OF THE PALM-OIL TRADE
Africans. So he determined to woo British support for his claim to
the throne. . . .
In seeking British support, he stressed his active Christianity as a
justification for his elevation, contrasting himself with the super­
stitious and licentious Prince Duke. He wrote to the Foreign Office
three times during 1880-1 on these lines, and threatened that if
Prince Duke remained King, the Eyambas would seek British
protection, and leave Calabar to live somewhere else, governed by
the Christian principles enshrined in the 1878 agreement abolishing
human sacrifices.53 He also supported the request for British protec­
tion made by the slave Peter King Cameroons, an elder of the church
who was being oppressed.54 And he inspired a publicity campaign,
which stressed his piety, in the African Times™ in support of his
candidacy.
If Prince James hoped that the Mission would use its influence to
support him because he was such an important church member, he
was to be sadly disappointed. The Revd. Anderson, who had been
the Duke Town missionary for many years, would not take sides in
the succession dispute.50 However, Mr. Ross, a relative newcomer,57
who had been on explorations with Prince Eyamba,58 supported his
claims, and denounced Anderson’s toleration of barbarous customs,
and his apparent support for the unconverted Prince Duke.59 Such
was the rancour between the two missionaries, that an independent
enquiry was set up to adjudicate between them. As a result Mr. Ross
was ordered home without delay, and Mr. Anderson was reproached.
Ross refused to go home, and instead resigned from the Church on
Christmas Day, 1881. Prince James Eyamba and his ward, together

Prince James Eyamba V etc. to Foreign Office, 24 June 1881, FO84/1612.

!“•> ™July 18811 FO84/1612. Hewett to Granville, 17 Feb. 1882, ST 5, FO84/
1617. (The letter of 1880 is missing.)
“Petition of Prince James Eyamba V on behalf of Peter King Cameroons and
lamtiy of Duke Town to Earl Granville, 20 Sept. 1881, FO84/1612.
tssti J ?cl' 18811 p- H6, cit. Amindi Africanus to Editor, 24 Aug.
, 1 2 18821 P- 8, cit. F. C. T. Wanabo to Editor, 9 Oct. 1881. Ibid.,
June 1882, p. 68 cit. Ami Ndi Africanus to Editor, 24 Mar. 1882.
Marwick p 579, cit. Anderson to Chisholm, 25 Mar. 1881.
" Ibid., p. 541, cit. Dr. MacGill c. 1875.
KsJ?dd'i1'ofa' Sutherland, pp. 122-3. Paul Langhans, ‘Vergessene Reisen in
1877^mS’i,«t?'1Dn dCS Missionaro Alexander Ross, von Alt-Kalabar nach Efut
“ Gcosraphische Mitteilungen, 48 (1902), 73.
Minuti 1497 of F M r Sectary F.M.C., 28 Aug. 1879, considered in
 THE OIL TRADE AND EFIK POLITICAL HISTORY 131
with the Henshaws, withdrew from the Mission with Mr. Ross,
Prince Eyamba giving his new house to Mr. Ross, and the Henshaws
building him a church.60 That the Eyambas and the Henshaws acted
together on this issue reveals that Prince James had gained the co­
operation of the Henshaws against the more powerful Duke ward.
Their joint withdrawal from the Mission on this political issue
demonstrates the political motivation behind their membership.
While Prince James Eyamba pursued an intelligent and construc­
tive campaign for the OZtozzg-ship, Prince Archibong pursued a
bloody-minded and destructive policy. He committed a series of
violent acts to show he was beyond all authority, early in 1881 cap­
turing some men from Cobham Town, and in November seizing
some of the Henshaw Chiefs. Both incidents nearly precipitated war
with the wards concerned.61 In October the same year he imported
the first Gatling gun to be seen at Old Calabar, together with 5,000
cartridges.02
In August 1882 Hewett summoned the Chiefs to elect a King for
him to crown, and notwithstanding their previous objections, Prince
Duke was chosen, and crowned on 8 August.60 However, as there
was discontent when he was made King earlier, the re-affirmation of
his position only guaranteed that discontent would continue. If the
vast power of Duke ward was sufficient to achieve Prince Duke’s
accession, it could not prevent the disappointed wards from acting
against him as Obong. Indeed, the situation in Calabar deteriorated.
Again it was Eyamba ward which most cleverly worked against
King Duke. Now that their chance of the Ofiozzg-ship and Eyamba-
ship was lost, they changed their policy from seeking British support
for their claim to the throne, to seeking British annexation of Cala­
bar. A flurry of letters was sent to the Foreign Office from Eyamba
ward in 1883, complaining of the barbarities of Prince Duke, and the
murderous and violent acts of Prince Archibong, which were con­
trary to the 1878 treaty on inhuman practices, and asking openly for
British annexation as the only remedy.61 But the Eyambas were not
60 African Times, 1 June 1882, p. 68, cit. Ami Ndi Africanus to Editor, 24 Mar.
1882. UPCMR N.S. 2 (1 Apr. 1882), 92. Marwick, p. 581, cit. Anderson to Chis­
holm, 31 Dec. 1881.
« Hewett to Granville, 16 Feb. 1882, ST 2, FO84/1617. Ibid. 27 July 1882,
ST 11, FO84/1617. George Watts to ?, 6 Feb. 1882, Calprof Ibadan, 4/1 vol. 9.
68 African Times, 2 Jan. 1882, p. 8, cit. F. C. T. Wanabo to Editor, 9 Oct. 1881.
Hewett to Granville, 14 Aug. 1882, ST 12, FO84/1617.
« Hewett to Foreign Office, 19 Oct. 1883, FO84/1634 (this cites three letters
which are now missing). Thomas S. Fuller to Granville, 27 Sept. 1883, FO84/
K
132 THE ERA OF THE PALM-OIL TRADE
merely being spiteful in demanding annexation, for there was a
genuine need for law and order, and the Eyambas themselves had a
real need for protection. It was not that they were necessarily com­
mitted to humanitarian reform in the face of barbarous authorities,
for they forced someone to submit to them as a vassal in November
1883.05 Their fears for their own safety were justified by an attack
upon them by Prince Archibong during the same month, in which
one of their people was killed, and two dozen imprisoned. A full-
scale war threatened, the Eyambas fearing an attack by Duke ward,
and the Archibong sub-section of Duke ward.60
So it must have seemed a triumph to the Eyambas when Consul
Hewett arrived in the river in July 1884 to negotiate a preliminary
protection treaty. King Eyo VII signed on 23 July, and King Duke IX
the following day,07 and in September a more comprehensive treaty
was signed.03 However the main purpose of British protection was to
prevent the interference of other foreign powers, although disputes
between the Kings and Chiefs were to be adjudicated by the Consul.09
But the fact that the Consul was now arbitrator between the Chiefs
only exacerbated the political disintegration, as now aggrieved ward
leaders appealed to the Consul and Foreign Office against the King,
completely undermining what little authority he still retained.70
By 1 January 1885 war, which threatened to envelop the town,71
had broken out at the farms between Duke ward and its Archibong
sub-section. The fundamental cause of the acrimony was Prince
Archibong’s disappointment in the O&ong-ship dispute. Acting
Consul White brought the two sides to terms, and banned the import
of arms.72 Later the same year more complaints were made to the
Consul on behalf of Eyamba ward, about Prince Archibong and
1655. E. John Eyamba to Granville, 27 Sept. 1883, FO84/1655. Ibid. 30 Sept.
1883, FO84/1655.
5 Abyah Young to Chairman of Court of Equity, 24 Nov. 1883, Calprof Iba­
dan, 3/2.
"Prince Eyamba V to Court of Equity, 12 Nov. 1883, Calprof Ibadan 3/2.
H.^Hartjc, to Court of Equity for their comments, 12 Nov. 1883, Calprof Ibadan
" £raisie t0 Brooke, 26 July 1884, Inc. 5 in No. 22, pp. 18-20, FO403/32.
Hewett to Granville, 24 Sept. 1884, No. 28, FO84/1660. Ibid. 24 Sept. 1884,
°;’3> P- 9' FO403/47.
treaty with Kings and Chiefs of Old Calabar, 10 Sept. 1884, Inc. 16 in No.
13;.pP-2,7-8.FO403/47.
n A'.' Whitc. etc. to Salisbury, 9 Oct. 1885, No. 133, pp. 187-8, FO403/71.
‘ ™.cc Eyamba V to Munro, 1 Jan. 1885, Calprof Ibadan, 3/2.
White to Granville, 21 Jan. 1885, No. 4, FO84/1701. Acting Consul’s
 THE OIL TRADE AND EFIK POLITICAL HISTORY 133
King Duke.73 Although Consul Hewett intervened in March 1886,74
and Vice-Consul Johnston in November, the situation at Calabar
was deteriorating rapidly. Again war had broken out between Duke
ward and the Archibongs, as a result of which the Archibongs were
leaving Calabar to settle in the Rio del Rey, where they were already
provoking further trouble.75 This exodus marks the establishment
of the Archibongs as an independent ward from Duke ward, as they
are to this day.
Clearly the degree of British intervention permitted under the
Treaty of Protection was insufficient to bring order to Calabar, and
those who had sought British annexation began in 1887 to seek a
complete and thorough establishment of British rule. Again the
Eyambas led the way, now backed by the Cobhams and Yellow
Duke.70 While the Foreign Office was reluctantly coming to the
conclusion that further intervention was necessary, the situation at
Calabar descended into even more violent disorder in 1889-90, as
King Duke struggled to re-establish his authority by a brutal show of
Ekpe force. But this was Ekpe's last fling, for in 1890 Consul Annesley
prohibited the use of Ekpe except to enforce his own decisions.77
Thus the instrument of Efik government passed under British control.
In September the same year Annesley made himself President of the
Native Court, because of the squabbling of the Efik officers, and he
set up a governing council.78 In August 1891, MacDonald, Her
Majesty’s Commissioner and Consul General, arrived to administer
the Government of the Oil Rivers, and tariffs were imposed to pay
for the administration.79 Calabar was no longer an independent state.

Decision Re the Recent disturbances in Old Calabar, (undated) (April, 1885),

Calprof Ibadan 5/8, vol. 2.
73 Thomas to H. G. White, 28 July 1885, Calprof Ibadan, 4/1, vol. 10. Un­
signed letter from Eyamba Town, 17 Aug. 1885, Calprof Ibadan, 4/1, vol. 10.
Thomas to H. G. White, 15 Aug. 1885, Calprof Ibadan, 4/1, vol. 10. Ibid. 24 Nov.
1885, Calprof Ibadan, 4/1, vol. 10 (2 letters).
74 Goodrich to Grubbc, 30 Mar. 1886, Inc. in No. 69, p. 65, FO403/72.
75 Johnston to Consul, 22 Nov. 1886, Calprof Ibadan, 4/1, vol. 10.
70 Prince Efiom John Eyamba, etc. to Salisbury, 19 July 1887, FO84/1866.
George Jos Turner, Prince E. J. Eyamba, Fred C. Thomas, Thomas Yellow
Duke, etc. to Salisbury, 25 Oct. 1887, No. 249, pp. 197-200, FO403/73.
77 Annesley to Foreign Secretary, 26 Feb. 1890, No. 12, F084/2020.
78 Anncslcy to Foreign Secretary, 2 Sept. 1890, No. 35, F084/2020.
70 MacDonald to Foreign Office, 11 June 1891, No. 30, p. 17, FO403/I71. A
Proclamation imposing Customs Duties within the Oil Rivers Protectorate, Inc. 1,
in No. 30, p. 17, FO403/17I. MacDonald to Foreign Office, 8 Aug.1891,No.55,
pp. 33-7, FO403/171.
134 THE ERA OF THE PALM-OIL TRADE
3. Anglo-Efik relations
Trade was the basis ofthe relationship between Britain and Calabar.
To the Efik, British trade was vital, as their entire state was based
upon the monopoly of the external commerce of the Cross River
basin. To the British, Calabar was a comparatively unimportant
primary producer, and a minor market for manufactured goods. The
last thing which Britain wanted was to become involved in Efik
politics, still less to assert political control. Yet very gradually Britain
was drawn into Efik affairs, almost without being aware of the fact.
During Great Duke Ephraim’s reign, Anglo-Efik relations had
been amicable, as the Duke realized that his power was dependent
upon his ability to maintain his credit-worthiness with the British.
These good relations continued after his death, and in 1836 King
Eyamba V invited Beecroft to help him solve a palaver which was
interrupting trade.80 Formal relations between the two countries
were established with the signing of the anti-slavery treaties of 1841.81
Indicative of future trends, additional articles signed in 1842 gave
Britain the right to intervene with force if slave trading revived.82
So greatly had British interests in the area expanded by the middle
forties, with the growth of the oil trade, that King Eyamba’s failure
to pay his British creditors led to suggestions, in 1844 and 1845, that
John Beecroft be made Consul to mediate in such matters.83 Although
no Consul was appointed, Commanders of British cruisers were
instructed they might intervene amicably in similar circumstances.8*
But if Britain did not consider Calabar’s trade sufficiently important
to warrant the appointment of a Consul, the French viewed Calabar
more covetously. In 1847 a French steamer arrived to persuade the
Efik to accept French protection.86 The Chiefs refused, and instead
asked that Britain annex Calabar.80 Thomas B. Horsfall, Chairman
"R- K- Oldfield, ‘A briet Account of an Ascent of the Old Calabar River in
1836 , ZR.G.S. 7 (1837), 195-8.
7 Decl84? FO8 K'"B Eyamba and KinB Ey0>6 DeC'1841 ’in Blount ,o Tucker,
ia«Addi,ional Articlcs. with King Eyamba V and King Eyo Honesty, 30 Nov.
i> v ,?otc to Hcrbert, 12 Dec. 1842, FO84/495.
S t0 Barrow, 5 June 1844, FO84/549. Nicolls to Canning, 2 Dec. 1844,
,,j(555-. Gooch to Jones, 14 July 1845, FO84/612.
,s h,an,n'nS to Admiralty, 21 Nov. 1845, FO84/607.
!849, F0g4'!z’7p’’e'"-,'‘iv'"c Tears, pp. 350-2. Bcecroft to Palmerston, 16 July
and Gentlemen Traders to Hope, 30 Sept. 1847, FO84/746.
FO84/746H°tham’ 3 DCC’ 1847’ InC' 1 in Hotham t0 Admira|ty. 24 Jan- 1848'
 THE OIL TRADE AND EFIK POLITICAL HISTORY 135
of the Liverpool African Association, eagerly pressed Palmerston
to agree to the Efik request,8’ but Palmerston adamantly refused to
entertain the idea,88 and turned it down.89 But the matter did not rest
here, for in 1849 the Chiefs allowed Lieutenant Selwyn to select and
crown King Archibong,99 who immediately requested a flag from
Queen Victoria.91 This was interpreted as another request for British
annexation,92 but again Palmerston rejected the idea.93 Contrary to
Dike’s opinion, Palmerston clearly did not have territorial ambitions
in the area.91 However, his basic interest in the commerce of
the region is revealed by his making John Beecroft Consul in
1849.95
The Consul’s job was to protect British subjects, and promote their
commercial interests, but he had no authority over them, or over the
Africans with whom they dealt.99 In normal circumstances his only
weapon was his good offices, although in an emergency he might
call a man-of-war.9’
But Beecroft was well known by the Calabar Chiefs, who conse­
quently did not object to his intervention in the political crisis of
1851. If they hid from him the real motive behind the slaves’invasion,
they signed the treaty he drew up confirming the abolition of human
sacrifices, giving him the right to redress any infringements.98 As in
1842, Britain was committed to intervention in Efik affairs, to
uphold treaty obligations. Such was Beecroft’s continued acceptance
87 Horsfall to Palmerston, 4 Dec. 1847, FO84/710.
88 Memorandum re M. Gibson Craig to Foreign Office, 6 Dec. 1847, signed
Palmerston, FO84/710.
87 Murray to Hotham, 24 Mar. 1848, Inc. 2 in Admiralty to Foreign Office,
21 July 1848, FO84/748.
00 Selwyn to Fanshawe, 1 June 1849, in Admiralty to Eddisbury, 23 Nov. 1849,
FO84/785.
01 King Archibong I and Mr. Young to Queen Victoria, 14 June 1849, in
Selwyn to Fanshawe, 10 Sept. 1849, Inc. 2 in Admiralty to Foreign Office, 23
Nov. 1849, FO84/785.
02 Selwyn to Fanshawe, 10 Sept. 1849, Inc. 2 in Admiralty to Foreign Office,
23 Nov. 1849, FO84/785.
83 Comment on Admiralty to Foreign Office, 23 Nov. 1849, signed Palmerston,
14 Dec. 1849, FO84/785.
81 Dike, pp. 95, 128. Robert Gavin, ‘Nigeria and Lord Palmerston’, Ibadan, 12
(June 1961), 24-7.
95 Dike, p. 95.
88 D. C. M. Platt, ‘The Role of the British Consular Service in Overseas Trade,
1825-1914’, E.H.R. 2nd Ser. 15 (1962-3), 494-5.
87 Hutchinson to Clarendon, 23 Sept. 1856, No. 115, F084/1001.
88 Treaty with Slaves of Qua Plantations, 15 Feb. 1851, Inc. 10 in Beecroft to
Palmerston, 24 Feb. 1851, FO84/858.
136 THE ERA OF THE PALM-OIL TRADE
by the Chiefs, that he supervised the election of Archibong I’s
successor in 1852.”
The consequences of making treaties which bound Britain to
intervention were soon apparent. In 1854 Chief Willy Tom Robins of
Old Town died, and traditional funeral sacrifices took place. This
appeared to Acting Consul Lynslager to be a breach of the 1851
treaty abolishing human sacrifice, and after giving King Eyo and
Duke Ephraim two days to hand over those responsible, he ordered
the evacuation and destruction of the town.1 Lynslager was not to
know that he was being used by the people of Duke Town to crush
their ancient rivals who had not been party to the 1851 treaty, nor
was the Foreign Office, who accepted that compulsion to enforce the
treaty was unavoidable.2 The moral of this episode was that if Britain
wanted to avoid being embroiled in Efik internal affairs, she should
avoid making treaties with the Chiefs which committed her to
intervention. Yet on this very visit Lynslager made a treaty with the
Kings to abolish the murder of twin babies.3 For the Consul could
hardly avoid taking advantage of circumstances which favoured such
humanitarian agreements, with the ever-watchful eyes of the Mission
upon him. Fortunately, however, it was to be many years before
Britain had to intervene again in such an affair.
Although the Consul was the protector of the British traders in
his district, he had no authority over them. Thus he was powerless
to control the situation in Calabar after 1854, when bitter rivalry
broke out between the old trading companies using sailing ships, and
the newcomers sending oil to Britain on the mail steamers. Men were
assaulted, and oil was stolen. So the Foreign Office decided that the
Consul’s powers must be strengthened, either by drawing up com­
mercial laws which would be enforced with the co-operation of the
Kings, or by investing the Consul with magisterial powers over the
British subjects in his area. Extending control over the Africans was
not considered.'* It was decided eventually to give the Consul magis­
terial authority, and he was instructed to seek the agreement of the

•• Bcccroft to Malmesbury, 30 June 1852, FO84/886.

1 P.P. 1856, Ixii, Africa (Consular)—Hight of Biafra, Inc. 1 in No. 34,
I.ynslagcr’s Journal.
8 Memorandum ‘W to Clarendon, I Muy 1855, 1’084/975. Clarendon to
Lynslagcr, 8 May 1855, I 084/975.
8 P.P. 1856, Ixll, Africa, (Consular) Bight of Biafra, Inc. 27 in No.
34.
‘ Memorandum, signed ( ‘laieiidon, 17 Oct. 1856, 1’084/1001.
 THE OIL TRADE AND EFIK POLITICAL HISTORY 137
Calabar Kings to this move.5 Hutchinson obtained their agreement
in 1860, but the whole scheme was scotched by the refusal of other
Chiefs in the Bights.0
So it was left to Consul Burton to put commerce in Old Calabar on
a more regular footing by negotiating a new code of by-laws in 1862,
which King Archibong would only sign under threat of severe mea­
sures.7 These permanently established a Court of Equity, which
Hutchinson had unsuccessfully tried to set up in 1856.® The Court
handled commercial matters, and was made up of the supercargoes or
agents, and the two Kings, the Consul having final authority.9
Although the new laws stipulated free trade on the Cross River,
Burton was prevented by the Efik from establishing direct contact
with the markets.10
Livingstone, the next Consul, wanted to pursue a forward policy
to open the Cross River, but the Foreign Office was not interested,
and turned down his request that the Pioneer be stationed in his
district.11 Nevertheless Livingstone did interfere in Efik affairs, for,
in 1867, he fined King Archibong II for violating the 1851 treaty
abolishing human sacrifices, by killing some villagers and sacrificing
two women.11 And in 1869 Acting Consul Wilson had to fine Archi­
bong again, this time for a breach of the 1862 trade by-laws.13 Again
Britain had had to intervene in Calabar, in order to uphold treaty
provisions.
Despite fining Archibong II, the Consul still had no official power
over Africans or British.11 Thus Livingstone complained how difficult
it was to settle squabbles between the agents, and make and uphold
treaties with the Africans.15 The agents also pressed that the Consul

3 Malmesbury to Hutchinson, 23 May 1859, ST 15, FO84/1087.

» Hutchinson to Russell, 12 Feb. 1860, ST 8, FO84/I117. Ibid. 28 May 1860, ST
24, FO84/1117.
’ Burton to Russell, 22 May 1862, No. 16, FO84/1176.
8 By-laws, in Hutchinson to Clarendon, 24 Sept. 1856, F084/100I. Clarendon
to Hutchinson, 20 Dec. 1856, F084/1001.
8 Agreement, 5 May 1862, Inc. 4, in Burton to Russell, 22 May 1862, No. 16,
FO84/1176.
10 Burton to Russell, 22 May 1862, No. 16, FO84/1176. Burton to Russell,
15 Apr. 1864, Private, FO84/1221.
11 Livingstone to Russell, 3 June 1865, FO84/1249.
13 Livingstone to Stanley, 26 Dec. 1867, No. 34, FO84/1277.
13 Acting Consul Wilson to Foreign Secretary, 23 Feb. 1869, No. 8, FO84/I308.
11 Memorandum re Livingstone’s No. 35,1 Dec. 1869, signed N.H.W., 18 Jan
1870. FO84/1308.
13 Memorandum (undated) signed Livingstone, FO84/1343.
138 THE ERA OF THE PALM-OIL TRADE
should be invested with greater powers so that he might intervene
more quickly in trade disputes with the Efik.10 The Foreign Office
accepted that the Consul ought to have more authority,1’ but it was
not until a legal decision established that the West African Courts
of Equity had no legal powers that they decided to act. At long last
magisterial authority was conferred upon the Consul.18 Now he
could fine, banish, or imprison British subjects who broke the rules
or regulations which he might make for the good order of the
district.10
Although Livingstone himself was recalled in 1873 on the charit­
able belief ‘that the Consul must be suffering in his head’,20 the as­
sumption of magisterial powers by the Consul marked an important
advance in British involvement in Efik affairs. Now two groups
living in Calabar, the Mission and their emancipadoes, and the free
Africans, fell under the authority of the Consul. This provoked a
conflict between the Obong and the Consul as to who really had
authority over these people.
However, first the Consul was drawn into Efik affairs on another
issue. The Henshaws sought his intervention in their dispute with
Duke Town over the crowning of their own Obong, in 1872-3. And
when war broke out between the two towns in September 1875,
the Consul negotiated a settlement, fearing that another Bonny-
Opobo situation might develop. His interference in Efik politics was
a threat to the Obong’s authority, so Archibong tried to eject from
Calabar the Mission emancipadoes and the free Africans, who
claimed to be subject to the Consul alone. But the Consul insisted
that these people remain, and his thwarting of Archibong’s intentions
strengthened his image, in the eyes of local people, as an alternative
power and protector.21
Consequently, discontented elements in Calabar began to clamour
for British protection, which would make them subject to the Consul
1871,ANont15°FO84/I34325 JU'y 187’’ InC' 2 Hopkins to Granville- 2 Au8'

lo/l, rO84/1343.
s'snc'1 c- Vivian> 31 Aug- 1871, re Hopkins No. 15, 2 Aug.
“ n'?' l° kivin8stone’ 11 0°t. 1871, FO84/1343.
. a CS rc ,RcEulations framed under Her Majesty’s Order in Council of the
Anr ,7-,,° , ruary’ 1872> by Her Majesty’s Consul at Old Calabar, dated 29
■-« Mkm’ln klvingstonc 10 Granville, 29 Apr. 1872, FO84/1356.
1873, FO84/1"™ S'8ne<1 ’E’’ 27 J“'y’ 1873’ re Livin8stone’s N°- 36> 10 Ju"0
” Chapter 6, p. 104-5, 107-8.
 THE OIL TRADE AND EFIK POLITICAL HISTORY 139
and beyond the power of the Obong and his Chiefs. In 1877 James
Egbo Bassey sought protection for himself and his people, and the
Henshaws sought protection for their proposed new settlement.
As Hopkins informed the Foreign Office, it was useless trying to
explain that the Consul’s job was only to watch over the interests of
British subjects.22 Thus in 1878 Hopkins negotiated a settlement
between Henshaw Town and Duke Town, and also a treaty confirm­
ing the abolition of the murder of twin babies, and of human sacri­
fices, and abolishing the poison ordeal.23 Like earlier treaties, this was
soon to necessitate British intervention, as the Foreign Office feared
at the time.21
As has been shown earlier, the death of Archibong III precipitated
a vicious dispute about the succession. As the wards tightened their
control over their members as the dispute deepened, people who had
come to consider themselves free were subject to attempts at re­
enslavement. In retaliation, they clamoured for British protection.
Simultaneously, the Eyambas protested that if Prince Duke remained
King, they would ask for British protection and leave Calabar.
However, when Prince Duke’s elevation was confirmed in 1882, the
Eyambas began to demand British annexation of Calabar, arguing
that only this could remedy the constant evasions of the 1878 treaty
on inhuman practices. By making the treaty the British Government
had trapped itself into having to consider annexation.
Pressure on the British Government to establish protection in the
Oil Rivers was great. As early as 1879, the Kings of Cameroons had
sought to place themselves under British rule.25 And in 1881, letters
in the African Times suggested that Old Calabar be placed under
British protection for the benefit of those being oppressed there.20
Consul Hewett strongly advocated that the territory from Benin to
Cameroons be annexed, or the French would step in,27 arguing that
because of the chaos at Calabar, British protection would be a
blessing.28 Since the French would impose discriminatory tariffs, loss
22 Hopkins to Foreign Secretary, 28 Aug. 1878, No. 31, FO84/1508.
53 Agreement, 6 Sept. 1878, in Hopkins to Foreign Secretary, 6 Sept. 1878,
No. 33, FO84/1508.
24 Memorandum signed J.P., 28 Oct. 1878, re Hopkins, No. 33, 1878, FO84/
1508.
23 Hewett to Granville, 14 Jan. 1882, No. 9, pp. 20-1, FO403/18.
22 African Times, 1 Oct. 1881, p. 116, cit. Amindi Africanus to Editor, 24 Aug.
1881.
27 Hewett to Granville, 14 Jan. 1882, No. 9, pp. 20-1, FO403/18.
22 Ibid. 17 Feb. 1882, ST 5, FO84/1617.
140 THE ERA OF THE PALM-OIL TRADE
of trade was the major consideration,20 as John Holt pointed out.30
This fear was heightened by the re-establishment of the French
protectorate at Porto Novo in 1883.31
Thus the Foreign Office came to the conclusion that if Britain did
not heed the requests for protection from the Cameroons and
Calabar Chiefs, they would offer themselves to the French.32 Mr.
Goldie-Taubman, of the National Africa Company, pressed for
action in September 1883, because of the presence of a French gun­
boat on the Niger,33 and as a French move seemed imminent,31 the
matter was put to the Cabinet.33 Meanwhile more requests for
British protection came from Calabar, on which Hewett com­
mented that, as British policy had unwittingly led the people there to
rely too much on Britain, protection was now the logical outcome.30
Old Calabar needed good government, and British trade there was
large and increasing.37 By 22 December 1883, it had been decided to
strengthen the Consular administration and make treaties with the
Chiefs, with the effect that they were not to cede their territories to
other foreign powers.38 Hewett was to return to his post unosten­
tatiously, and conclude the necessary treaties.30 However, the
financing of the scheme had not been decided, and the Foreign
Office could not act unless the traders would bear the cost of the
strengthened administration.10 On 27 February 1884, although plans
were complete, and Hewett ready to go, and despite increasing con-
30 Supplementary Remarks upon British Trade upon the West Coast of Africa,
Wm. Tasker Nugent, 29 Apr. 1882, In No. 23*. pp. 29-33, FO403/18.
" Holt to Granville, 11 Dec. 1882, No. 1, pp. 1-2, FO403/19.
" Herbert to Lister, 12 May 1883, No. 11, pp. 11-12, FO403/19. Lister to
Herbert, (Confidential), 22 May 1883, No. 14, pp. 15-17, FO403/19.
31 Memorandum by Mr. Anderson on the French Occupation of Porto Novo,
11 June 1883, No. 19, pp. 38-42, FO403/19. Hewett to Granville, 11 June 1883,
No. 21, p. 44, FO403/19.
33 Goldie-Taubman to Lister, 26 Sept. 1883, No. 37, p. 54, F0403/20.
31 Lister to Bramston, 5 Oct. 1883, (Confidential), No. 45, p. 58, F0403/20.
' Bramston to Lister, 5 Oct, 1883, No. 48, p. 59, FO4D3/20. Lister to Bramston,
23 Oct. 1883, No. 61, p. 68, F0403/20. Lister to Meade, 30 Oct. 1883, No. 62,
p. 69, F0403/20.
33 Hewett to Granville, 3 Nov. 1883, No. 19, FO84/1634.
38 Suggestions’, Hewett to Foreign Office, 20 Nov. 1883, FO84/1634.
Memorandum by Mr. Lister respecting the Niger, Oil Rivers, and Came-
roons 22 Dec. 1883, No. 3, p. 3, FO403/31.
„ "ndcrson ,t0 Sanderson, 15 Jan. 1884, Annex to No. 13, p. 14, FO403/31.
Memorandum by Mr. Anderson on the Consular Protection and Jurisdic-
lion on the West Coast of Africa (Niger and Oil River District), 25 Jan 1884,
F0403/31P' 151 FO',03/31' Granville to Aberdare, 6 Feb. 1884, No. 22, p. 20,
 THE OIL TRADE AND EFIK POLITICAL HISTORY 141
cern at French interest in the Niger,41 all was deadlocked for want of
funds.42 The traders had refused to bear the cost, and the Exchequer
was reluctant to pay.43
Late in April came news of a German mission departing for West
Africa,44 and early in May news of French movements on the Niger.45
At last the British government was spurred into action, and although
the financial problem was still not resolved, Hewett left for the coast
on 28 May.40 But the scheme was bungled because of the delay over
finance, for when Hewett arrived in the Cameroons, he found the
Germans there before him. However, he cut his losses and concluded
treaties with the Kings at Calabar and the other Oil Rivers ports.47
The motivation for British intervention in the Oil Rivers has been
under discussion in recent years.48 However, trade was the basic
consideration. Hewett’s letter of instruction stated that intervention
was being undertaken because British trade was increasing, making
it necessary to protect the lives and property of British traders, and
to safeguard commerce from the ignorance, greed, and weakness
of the local Chiefs.49 If this was imperialism, it was unashamed
economic imperialism. The question of protection had first been
brought to the attention of the Foreign Office by the demands for
protection from the Cameroons and Calabar, particularly the latter,
which were the consequence of the political disintegration there.
So Britain was faced with the alternatives of acceding to these
demands, or of seeing these people offer themselves to the French
or Germans. As the French and Germans would have imposed
discriminatory tariffs, British tracjp would have been seriously
41 Granville to Abcrdare, 6 Feb. 1884, No. 21, with enclosures, pp. 19-20,
FO403/31.
41 Memoranda by Mr. Anderson and Mr. Lister, No. 43, pp. 33-5, FO403/31.
41 Ibid.
41 Ampthill to Granville, 23 Apr. 1884, No. 67*. p. 49, FO403/31. Thompson to
Lister, 2 May 1884, with enclosure, No. 69, p. 50, F0403/3L
45 Secretary of the Admiralty to Lister, 3 May 1884, with enclosure, No. 70,
pp. 51-2, FO403/31.
44 Lister to Secretary of the Admiralty, 15 May 1884, No. 87, p. 57, FO403/31.
” Hewett to Granville, 25 Aug. 1884, No. 18, FO84/1660. Ibid. 24 Sept. 1884,
No. 28, FO84/1660.
48 J. D. Hargreaves, Prelude to the Partition of West Africa (London, 1963).
R. Robinson, J. Gallagher, and A. Denny, Africa and the Victorians (London,
1961). M. E. Chamberlain, ‘Lord Aberdare and the Royal Niger Company’,
The Welsh History Review, 3 (1966-7), 45-62. D. C. M. Platt, ‘Economic
Factors in British Policy during the new “Imperialism”, Past & Present, 39
(Apr. 1968), 120-38. Hopkins, pp. 580-606. 1
48 Lister to Hewett, 16 May 1884, No. 88, pp. 57-8, FO403/31.
142 THE ERA OF THE PALM-OIL TRADE
reduced, and hence intervention was essential. Yet if there had
been no political vacuum in Old Calabar, there would have been
no possibility of the people there offering themselves to the French
or Germans, and therefore Britain’s trade would not have been in
jeopardy, and Britain would not have intervened. However, having
established protection, Britain did not introduce discriminatory
tariffs against her rivals, although she had intervened to prevent them
introducing such tariffs.50
As with the earlier treaties which Britain had made with the Chiefs
of Old Calabar, the protection treaty created more problems than it
solved. By laying down that the Consul should adjudicate disputes
between the Chiefs, it made him the central figure in Efik politics.
Yet although he had powers of adjudication, he had no tools to
implement his decisions if the parties refused to accept them.
These problems became apparent immediately. In January 1885,
the Acting Consul had to adjudicate about a war which had broken
out between the Archibongs and Duke ward. And later that year
more demands were made from Calabar for a complete assertion of
British control, because of the atrocities which were occurring. Hewett
commented that unless Britain established control to suppress these
cruelties, it would appear that she supported them, or was too weak
to prevent them.51 But the British traders at Calabar did not want
further intervention, and instead, complained to Salisbury that
Hewett was undermining King Duke’s authority by his interference,
to the detriment of the safety of themselves and their trade.52 In
1886, Hewett and Vice-Consul Johnston both had to settle palavers
at Calabar, but the situation continued to deteriorate. In 1887 the
Eyambas, backed by the Cobhams, and Yellow Duke, begged
Salisbury to annex Calabar completely, with Hewett eagerly sup­
porting such a move.53
Further consolidation of power had been under consideration at
the Foreign Office, where it had been hoped that the Oil Rivers could
be brought under the Niger Company system. As this was now
unlikely, some other self-financing system was sought, as it would

Wk,Pr.inlad ,ctler’ White to Chairman of the Courts of Equity, 27 Jan. 1885, in

"si n 0 Gjanvillc. 29 Jan. 1885, No. 5, Africa, FO84/1701.
■ ■;e5’arks on letter of 29 June 1885, from British subjects at Old Calabar,
6." T ucw'“- 4 S°P>-1885, FO84/1701.
„ nt, ■lte’ elc-,o Salisbttry, 9 Oct. 1885, No. 133, pp. 187-8, FO403/71.
ism 5crva,10ns on the Petition of Prince Efiom John Eyamba, of 19 July
1887, Hewett to F.O., 15 Oct. 1887, FO84/1828.
 THE OIL TRADE AND EFIK POLITICAL HISTORY 143
benefit the merchants.51 Meanwhile Hewett continued to press for
annexation.55
The ineffectiveness of the Consular administration was growing
daily more obvious. In 1888 Vice-Consul Johnston had to be re­
strained from interfering too vigorously in local affairs as Britain did
not yet administer the district.56 And Hewett fell out with Johnston,
rescinding some notices he had issued.5’ Moreover, in 1889 a German
gunboat openly sailed up to Creek Town and seized King Eyo, later
sailing away with hostages.58
At long last, more determined steps were taken to improve the
administration, and in April 1889, Major MacDonald discussed
schemes for the future administration of the district with the Kings
and Chiefs.50 As a result he recommended that a strong consular
administration be set up with an executive backed by armed police
and a constabulary. If this was constitutionally unacceptable, then
a Crown Colony should be established.60 But he did not indicate
how the administration should be paid for, which was thought by
the British government to be the primary consideration. Sir Villiers
Lister overcame this problem by suggesting an import duty,61 and
Johnston combined both men’s ideas in a long memorandum in
August 1890, although he proposed that the head of the adminis­
tration be termed the High Commissioner.02 Now that the financial
question was resolved, the decision was taken to go ahead. Mac­
Donald was made Commissioner and Consul General in April 1891,60
and arrived in Calabar on 1 August 1891,61 the day that the customs
duties were imposed.05 Old Calabar had passed under British control.
51 Memoranda signed N.P.N., and I.V.J., 18 Oct. 1887, FO84/1828. Lister to
Colonial Office, 2 Nov. 1887 (Confidential), No. 232, p. 178, FO403/73.
85 Observations on Turner to Salisbury, 25 Oct. 1887, Hewett to F.O., 16
Dec. 1887, FO84/1828.
60 F.O. to Act. Con. Johnston, 10 Feb. 1888, No. 3, FO84/188I.
87 Hewett to Salisbury, 20 June 1888, No. 25, FO84/1881. Memorandum re
Hewett to Salisbury, 20 June 1888, No. 25, signed I.V.J., 1 Aug. 1888, FO84/1881.
08 Unwana Efik, no. 2, vol. iii (Feb. 1889), in Hewett to Salisbury, No. 14,
18 Apr. 1889, FO84/1941.
08 MacDonald to Salisbury, No. II, 12 June 1889, F084/1940.
80 Report by Major MacDonald of his visit as Her Majesty’s Commissioner to
the Niger and Oil Rivers, March 1890, FO403/131, pp. 95-102.
61 Memorandum by Sir Villiers Lister, 1 July 1890, FO403/134.
02 Memorandum by Consul Johnston on the Administration of the Oil Rivers,
11 Aug. 1890, FO403/132.
03 Lister to Major MacDonald, 18 Apr. 1891, No. 2, pp. 1-3, FO403/187.
81 MacDonald to Foreign Office, 8 Aug. 1891, No. 55, pp. 33-7, FO403/171.
80 Ibid., 11 June 1891, No. 30, p. 17, FO403/171.
144 THE ERA OF THE PALM-OIL TRADE

The London price of palm oil began to fall slowly in

level above £36, which it had mostly maintained from the pri
revival of the mid-sixties, and by late 1882, prices reached about
£32 to £33, their lowest point since the low of £32, reache '
early sixties. Then they rose sharply to a peak of £45 in 1883, ir
which they declined again from mid-1884, breaking the £30 level in
1885, and sinking below £24 until late 1888. Then they rose a htt e o
fluctuate between £24 and £30, until late 1891 -G7 Although unres in
Calabar after 1879 originated in the domestic political strugg e or
office, it may have been exacerbated by the fall in prices. Dec inmg
prices would mean declining profits, making the Ohong-ship an
Eyamba-shvp even more desirable because of the control these posts
conferred over comey and commerce. However, during the crucia
period of 1883-4, in which Britain decided to establish protection,
prices were extremely good. These high prices did bring the British
agents into association,08 for fear of competing each others profits
away, but they did not seek intervention, and in 1885 actually com­
plained that the Consul’s interference was undermining King Duke s
authority, to the detriment of their trade. It was only after the estab­
lishment of British protection that prices plunged to their all-time
low. This had serious repercussions in Calabar, for in 1888 Johnston
stopped the trade of twenty-three Efik traders who were in debt to
the agents.09 Although King Duke was not involved, more than half
the leading Efik traders were, including (significantly) the King s
main opponents, Prince James Eyamba, Prince Archibong III, and
Chief Henshaw in. Thus, coming on top of the original political
crisis, the price-fall contributed to the continued unrest which
determined the British to consolidate their authority.
So it was that Britain took control of Old Calabar after nearly a
century of trying to avoid becoming embroiled in Efik affairs.
Britain s only interest in Calabar was trade, and Palmerston had
strictly avoided broadening these commercial interests into political
•• Hopkins, pp. 596-9.
for Palm Oil’ London. 1844-91, p. 70.
C»69 Chapter 5, p. 64-5.
“ mrliRRRawd 13 Apr* 1888’ s’8ncd H‘ H- Johnston, in Hewett to Salisbury,
20 June 1888, No. 25, FO84/1881.
 THE OIL TRADE AND EFIK POLITICAL HISTORY 145
overlordship, even when directly invited to do so by the Efik them­
selves. Yet as the century wore on, each apparently insignificant
treaty drew Britain deeper into Efik affairs, for if the terms of the
treaty were broken the Consul had to intervene. At the same time
groups of free Africans and emancipadoes were growing up in Cala­
bar, informally under British protection. Thus when the Consul was
given magisterial powers he became in effect the ruler of these groups
in Calabar, and therefore a rival to the Obong. Having secured the
abolition of the poison ordeal in 1878, the Consul was unwittingly
party to the political crisis which developed in 1879 over the suc­
cession to Archibong HI. Since the dispute could not be resolved by
the traditional ordeal, inter-ward warfare broke out, against a back­
ground of falling oil prices. When the new Obong was finally selected
in 1882, the defeated Eyamba ward began to press for annexation,
on the grounds that the 1878 treaty was being transgressed, and
because they saw the Consul as a preferable alternative to King Duke.
Their pressure coincided with the requests for protection from those
almost-free men who were being re-enslaved, as the wards tightened
their grip over their members, in response to the threat of war.
Faced with these demands for protection, Britain decided to inter­
vene, lest those seeking protection should offer themselves to the
French or Germans instead, an outcome which would have severely
affected British trade. After protection, discontent continued, since
the Consul’s interference undermined the King’s authority without
replacing it, while oil prices hit the century’s lowest point. Conse­
quently, when a formula was discovered for financing a meagre
administration without cost to the Exchequer, consolidation was
effected, and in 1891 the Consul-General’s authority replaced the
Obong's. If the short-term cause of intervention was the political
disintegration inside Calabar, this disintegration was a side-effect of
the long-standing commercial connection with Britain. Had there
been no Anglo-Efik trade, Britain would not have annexed Old
Calabar.
 Conclusion

From 1600 to 1891 the economic demands of the expanding

international economy were the main force acting for change in Efik
society. The relationship between the West and Old Calabar was
essentially commercial, and the changes which took place in Efik
society were side-effects of this commerce.

It was the increasing need of the Western economy for slave

plantation labour in the New World which first brought European
traders to Calabar, and gave the small community of fishermen
traders there the opportunity to develop their trading skills as slave
exporters. Their success in meeting this external demand enabled
them to develop into the dominant tribe on the Cross River, by
purchasing domestic slaves to work for them as canoe hands and
traders, with the profits which accrued. Thus the Efik state was a
response to the demands of the international economic system, utiliz­
ing Western credit to evacuate labour for the Western economy.
In adapting to the demands of the West, the Efik demonstrated
their sensitivity to economic stimuli, and the flexibility of their social
and political system. The old lineage-system disintegrated, as wards
emerged composed of freemen and slaves. Yet the wards were con­
tent to cohere in the enlarged village-group, rather than break away
to form new independent villages. For their interests continued to be
served by the modification—where necessary—of the integrating
institutions of tutelary deity, secret society, and council.

Early in the nineteenth century, as the Western economic system

evolved under the process of industrialization, the external demand
for slaves was replaced by a demand for palm oil. To this the Efik
quickly adapted, utilizing their commercial skills and knowledge to
become middlemen in this trade, as they had been in the slave trade.
They invested the profits of the new trade in slaves, which they
settled in the newly discovered agricultural areas, to function as self­
maintaining retainers essential to their masters’ security in inter-ward
politics.
From the middle of the century, as trade increased, and techno-
 CONCLUSION 147
logical advance improved communications with other parts of the
West African Coast and with Europe, enclaves of aliens began to
establish themselves in Calabar, who were directly or indirectly
dependent upon the oil trade. These were the missionaries and their
emancipadoes, and the free Africans. Also, a Consul was sent out to
protect the interests of British subjects in the area. When, in 1872, he
was given authority over British subjects and protected people, he
assumed control over these enclaves in Calabar, and therefore
became a challenge to the authority of the Efik rulers.

Politics in Calabar had always consisted of inter-ward rivalry for

the leading political offices. But the new powers of the Consul,
backed by Britain’s potentially overwhelming force, meant that
parties discontented with the current rulers could seek the protection
of the Consul as an alternative pole of political authority. Thus when
the Eyamba ward was defeated in the vicious succession dispute of
1879-82, they turned to demand British annexation as a preferable
alternative to the rule of their hated rival. They were joined by other
discontented elements in Efik society.
During the seventies the spread of industrialization, associated
with economic nationalism in the United States and in Europe, had
deprived Britain of her wealthiest and most sophisticated markets.
She was therefore forced to seek market expansion in the less devel­
oped areas of the world, in Asia and Africa. This had led to her
political intervention in Egypt in 1882 to safeguard the route via the
Suez Canal to India and the East. Consequently the growing interest
of the new European industrial powers in West Africa was unwel­
come, for if they annexed any of the Coastal states, they would
establish discriminatory tariffs to Britain’s loss. Hence, when faced
with demands for protection from Calabar, Britain had no alternative
but to intervene, lest the petitioners offer themselves to her rivals.
It was Britain’s original intention merely to establish protection to
keep other countries away. But the Consul was given the right to
adjudicate between the King and Chiefs, unfortunately thereby
undermining the King’s authority without replacing it. Chaos
ensued, and the only solution was to give the Consul ruling powers
and assume control.

Thus intervention was determined by the political vacuum inside

Old Calabar, and the growing economic competition between the
L
148 CONCLUSION
Western powers. Annexation was the resultant of the polygon of
forces operating internally and externally at Calabar. These forces
were economic, or the by-product of economic forces. The ultimate
impact of the international economy upon Efik society was the
establishment of British rule.
 Epilogue 1891-1971

Efik history of the last eighty years, like the question of Efik
relations with the hinterland people, has yet to be researched. Much
of the obscurity of these years is due to the fact that records of the
Colonial period are mainly concerned with the problems of Colonial
administration, rather than with indigenous affairs. However, much
could be gleaned from a careful study of Nigerian archival material,
Native Court Records, and local newspapers.
Only a brief outline of the decline in Old Calabar’s importance
can be indicated here. Until 1900, Old Calabar was headquarters of
the Niger Coast Protectorate,1 and then headquarters of the Protec­
torate of Southern Nigeria which followed.2 Renamed Calabar in
1904,3 its future as an administrative centre was ruined by the
amalgamation of Southern Nigeria and Lagos in 1906, the latter
becoming the new seat of government. Meanwhile the economic life
of the city was being undermined by the opening of the Cross River
and the establishment of European trading-stations at the main
markets. The Efik were no longer middlemen? Yet Calabar remained
a major port for the evacuation of palm produce, and various schemes
were proposed to link Calabar to the hinterland by rail.5 But with
the discovery of the deep-water harbour at what was to be Port
Harcourt, in 1913, and the decision to develop it as the railway
terminal for the country east of the Niger, Calabar’s hopes of develop­
ment as an entrepot were destroyed. Much of the palm produce

1 P.P 1895, Ixxi, 1, Africa No. 1 (1895), Report on the Administration of the
Niger Coast Protectorate, August 1891-August 1894.
2 P.P. 1901 cd. (431-7), xlv, 727, Colonial Reports—Annual; No. 315, Southern
Nigeria, Report for 1899-1900. I. F. Nicolson, The Administration of Nigeria,
1900-1960 (Oxford, 1969), p. 101.
3 West African Mail, 23 Sept. 1904, p. 613. 14 Dec. 1906, p. 903. 3 Mar, 1905,
pp. 1163-4.
4 West African Mail, 18 Dec. 1903, p. 978, 8 Jan. 1904, pp. 1050-1, 12 Feb.
1904, pp. 1166—7. S. M. Tamuno, ‘The Development of British Administrative
Control of Southern Nigeria, 1900—12: A Study in the Administrations of Sir
Ralph Moor, Sir William MacGregor, and Sir Walter Egcrton’, (Univ, of London
Ph.D. Thesis 1962), p. 338.
6 J. C. Anene, Southern Nigeria in Transition 1885-1906 (Cambridge University
Press, 1966), p. 296. Tamuno, p. 132.
150 EPILOGUE 1891-1971
which had previously been exported via Calabar now went via
Port Harcourt, which became Nigeria’s second port.0
What remained of Calabar’s export trade was adversely affected
by the collapse of primary-produce prices in the late twenties and
early thirties. As unemployment grew, an exodus, spurred on by a
revival of witchcraft, began—to Lagos, Enugu, and other more
dynamic centres. Many Efik entered the Civil Service, now their
most profitable sphere of employment. During the forties and fifties,
Calabar remained a backwater, and the political wranglings of the
post-independence era of the sixties only made matters worse.
Because Calabar chose to back the Action Group rather than the
N.C.N.C., she was largely excluded from the latter’s economic
policy. And in 1961, Southern Cameroons, for which Calabar was a
leading port, chose for political reasons to leave Nigeria. Her trade
was diverted to Victoria, causing many firms to close in Calabar, and
precipitating further emigration. By the mid-sixties Calabar was
deeply depressed.’
However, the outcome of the Nigerian Civil War has resulted in a
marked improvement in Calabar’s position. As early as 1958, the
Calabar-Ogoja-Rivers (COR) State movement was pressing for the
creation of an independent state, centred on Calabar, as part of
the Federation of Nigeria. The Rivers Province leaders later separated
from the movement.8 But as a consequence of the war, General
Gowon published a decree in May 1967, creating twelve states from
the former regions of Nigeria, one of which was the long-sought-after
South Eastern State. On 31 March 1968 the new state came into
being. Despite some damage during the war, Calabar appears to
have recovered quickly, the population increasing from 70,000 before
the war to 100,000 afterwards.9 There seems to be every reason to
suppose that now the development of the south-east is in its own
hands, Calabar will recover all its former prominence.
0 Nicolson, pp. 186-90.
E. U. Aye, Old Calabar Through the Centuries (Calabar, 1967), pp. 161-70.
’ Aye, pp. 178-9.
’ West Africa, 3 June 1967, p. 716, 30 Mar. 1968, p. 361,18 Jan. 1969, pp. 62-3,
1 Mar. 1969, pp. 230-1, 15 Mar. 1969, pp. 295-6.
 Appendix i
Palm Oil Exports from Old Calabar, 1812-1887
Tons
1812-171 1,200
1821= 2,000
18283 2,000
18331 4-5,000
18473 5,217
18485 4,634
1849° 2,782
1850° 4,260
18517 2,838
18558 4,090
1864® 4,500
187110 6,000
187511 5,085
188312 7,365
188713 7,000
Sources: 1 Robertson, pp. 363-4. 2 Adams, Sketches, p. 113. 3 James Badgley,
Report on the old Calabar River, in Owen to Croker, 21 Feb. 1828,
CO82/1. 4 Maegregor Laird and R. A. K. Oldfield, Narrative of an
expedition into the interior of Africa (London, 1837) i. 278. 6 P.P. 1852,
ix (53), Minutes of Evidence before Select Committee on the African
Slave Trade, QQ 3143, Dawson cit. John Clare. 0 P.P. 1852, xlix
(284), Correspondence Relating to the Conveyance of H.M. Mails to
the West Coast of Africa, in John Clare to Admiralty, 16 Dee. 1851.
7 Ibid., in John Clare to Admiralty, 2 Jan. 1852 (the figure is low as two
ships from Calabar were lost at sea).8 General Report on the Bight of
Biafra, 20 June 1856, in Hutchinson to Clarendon, 20 June 1856, 69A,
FO2/I6. • Burton to Russell, 15 Apr. 1864, FO84/1221. 10 Capt. J. B.
Walker, F.R.G.S. ‘Notes on the Cross and Calabar Rivers’, UPCMR
n.s. 4 (2 Sept. 1872), p. 280. 11 James Irvine & Co. to Hopkins (1 July
1878), Calprof Ibadan, 4/1 Vol. 7 (this figure docs not include the small
Dutch shipment). 12 Gertzel, John Holt, cit. John Holt Papers, 26/3a.
13 Minute by Governor Moloney in connection with his visit in April
1888 to the present eastern limit of the Colony of Lagos, Government
Gazette, p. 201, FO84/1882.
 Appendix 2
Palm Kernel Exports from Old Calabar, 1869-1887
Tons
18691 1,000
18711 2,000
1875= 947
18873 10,000
Sources:1 P.P. 1873, Ixv, Commercial Reports, Africa, West Coast, Old Calabar,
Report by Consul Livingstone on the Trade and Commerce of Old
Calabar for the Year 1872. 2 James Irvine & Co. to Hopkins, 1 July
1878, Calprof Ibadan, 4/1 vol. 7. 3 Minute by Governor Moloney in
connection with his visit in April 1888 to the present eastern limit of the
Colony of Lagos, Government Gazette, p. 201, FO84/1882.
 Appendix 3
Sources to Chart 6: List of Treaties and Official Letters signed by the
Chiefs of Calabar, 1842-1862

(Treaties signed only by the Kings arc not included.)

1. Chiefs request Missionaries, c. 1842-3. Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 209.

2. Chiefs request British Protection. Chiefs to Hope, 30 Sept. 1847, in Hotham
to Admiralty, 24 Jan. 1848. No. 42, FO84/746.
3. Engagement to abolish Human Sacrifice, 20 Mar. 1848. FO84/748 and
FO97/432.
4. Agreement of Duke Ephraim and Chiefs to Abolish the Murder of Twin
Children, 18 Jan. 1855, Inc. 27 in No. 34, P.P. 1856, Ixii, Africa, (Consular),
Bight of Biafra.
5. Agreement that Egbo will be blown to recover European debts, 19 Oct. 1855,
Inc. 9 in Lynslager to Clarendon, 31 Oct. 1855, FO84/975.
6. Duke Town Chiefs welcome Consul Hutchinson, 19 Jan. 1856. Inc. 6 in
Hutchinson to Clarendon, 31 Jan. 1856, No. 11, F084/1001.
7. Declaration that British Subjects be not molested, 17 June 1856, Inc. 7, in
Hutchinson to Clarendon, 24 June 1856, No. 71, F084/1001.
8. Duke Town Chiefs to Anderson, Edgerley, and Baillie, 26 Aug. 1856, Inc. 6
in Hutchinson to Clarendon, 23 Sept.n. ioju No. 1115,
1856,, ixu. F084/1001.
1 j, r 1
9. Duke Town Chiefs to Hutchinson, 26 Aug. Inc.' 4A in Hutchinson to
A,,n 1856, Tr,/
Clarendon, 23 Sept. 1856, No. 115,. F084/1001.
10. Duke 'Town
JO b >■ ,
a If
Chiefs to Hutchinson,
« IT. .
1 Sept. 1856, Inc. 3 in Hutchinson to
Clarendon, 23 Sept. 1856, No. 115, F084/1001.
11. Duke Town Chiefs to Hutchinson, 14 Sept. 1856, Inc. 5 in Hutchinson to
Clarendon, 23 Sept. 1856, No. 115, F084/1001.
12. Proposed Trade Treaty, 19 Sept. 1856, in Hutchinson to Clarendon, 24 Sept.
1856, F084/1001.
13. Chiefs and Native Traders to Hutchinson (undated), Inc. 1 in Hutchinson to
Clarendon, 21 Feb. 1857, ST 12, F084/1030.
14. Duke Town Chiefs to Hutchinson, 1 Mar. 1859, Inc. 2 in Hutchinson to
Malmesbury, 21 Mar. 1859, ST 12. FO84/1087.
15. Archibong II to Lord John Russell, 9 Aug. 1859, Calprof Ibadan 4, 3 vol. 1.
16. Chiefs request Baillie to return from Ikorofiong, 30 July 1859, UPCMR 14
(Nov. 1859), 203.
17. Duke Town Chiefs to Lord John Russell, 3 May 1860, Inc. 1 in Hutchinson
to Russell. 28 May 1860, ST 25, FO84/1117.
18. Addition to Comcy Treaty of 1856, 31 May 1861, Calprof Ibadan 5 7.
19. Trade Agreement, 1862, 5 May, 1862, Inc. 4 in Burton to Russell. 22 Mav,
1862, No. 16, FO84/1176.

Note: On the chart, those names which only occurred twice or less have been
omitted. Creek Town Chiefs did not occur on some of the letters, i.e. those
specifically from Duke Town. This explains the greater frequency of Duke
Town names.
154 APPENDIX 3
Nantes omitted from Chart 6, 1842-1862
Treaty or letter Treaty or letter
where names where names
appeared appeared
King Eyamba V 1 Egbo Young Etim 10
Archibong Duke 3 Little Capt Duke 10, 11
Young Eyo 3 Nkse Etim Duke 10, 11
Ephraim Antcra 5 Ephraim Etim Duke 10, 11
Ephraim Boco Duke 6 Efiiong Muncshu 10, 11
William Duke 6 Young Big Adam 10, 11
Bo dar nar 6 Old George 10, 11
Offiong Archibong 6, 15 Basi Duke Antario 10, 11
Egbo Eyo 10, 13 Egbo Jemmy 10, 11
Egbo Basscy 10 Egbo Bo 11
Etim Effiong Duke 10, 11 Ephraim Nacunda 11
David King 10, 11 Ekpenyong Ekpo 11
John Boco Cobham 10 Ekpenyong Etim 11
Boco Cobham 10 Adam Oku 11
Egbo Boyok 10 Apande Duke 13
Etim Efliong Esien 10 Young Cobham 13
Captain Duke 10, 11 Coco Henshaw Duke 14
Esicn Ambo 10 Ephraim Adam 19

Personal Details of Signatories

NAME WARD

Jemmy Henshaw Henshaw

Young Chief of Henshaws, 1846? King Jemmy Henshaw, visited
by Revd. Anderson, 1849?
Sources:1 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 245. 2 Marwick, p. 225.

Antera Duke Ntiero

Traditional name for head of Ntiero House.

Henshaw Duke Duke

King Boco Boco in Ekpe, 1836? Described as ‘late’ in 1846?
OlTiong Henshaw Duke, presumably his successor, was King Boco
Boco in 1846? The Henshaw Duke of the 1862 treaty must be his
successor, probably Lame Henshaw Duke?
Sources: ‘Waddell, Journal, vol. 1, p. 27,15 Apr. 1846.2 UPCMR 1 (Sept. 1846)’
135. 3 Waddell, Journal, p. 31, 17 Apr. 1846. ‘ Ibid., vol. 10, p. 41,
11 Sept. 1854.

Duke Ephraim Duke

Brother of Great Duke Ephraim? Claims Kingship on death of
Archibong I? (See Chapter 7, above.)
Sources: • Beccroft to Malmesbury, 30 June 1852, FO84/886. 2 Waddell, Twenty-
Nine Years, p. 497.
 APPENDIX 3 155
NAME WARD
Adam Duke Duke
Is King War, 1846? Has considerable influence, 1849? Dies
26 Feb. 1851? Ephraim Adam Duke his son?
Sources:1 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 258. 2 Marwick, p. 206.3 Anderson,
Journal, 1851, 26 Feb. 1851.4 Waddell, Journal, vol. 1, p. 30, 16 Apr.
1846.

Ephraim Duke Duke

Had been a leading man for twenty years when died a victim of
rum, 28 Jan. 1870? There is no other mention of this man although
he appears on so many documents. It is probable that he was
another brother of Great Duke Ephraim’s, like Duke Ephraim who
became King Duke. There was a junior brother who didn’t hold
office.2
Sources:1 Marwick, p. 467, cit. Anderson Journal, 28 Jan. 1870. 2 Chief Enc
Ndcm Ephraim Duke, 9 Dec. 1965.

Black Davis Duke

One of the slaves who dominated Duke House after the death of
Great Duke.1 Was of Etim Effiom family, Duke House.3 Had top
four Ekpe grades.3 One of the wealthiest and most influential
traders, dies 25 Jan. 1874? (Sec Chapter 6.)
Sources:1 Chief Thomas A. Efliom, M.O.N., 7 Dec. 1965.2 Chief Nicholas Efa
Ansa, Black Davis family, 17 Jan. 1966. 3 Black Davis House Book,
27 July 1874, p. 39. 4 Marwick, p. 525.

Yellow Duke Duke

One of principal native traders, 1862? Is slave of Duke family, but
rises above his master. Is 60-70. Fine House at Duke Town and
3,000 slaves? King John Archibong almost subject to Yellow Duke,
one of his head slaves.3 Creditor of King Archibong, and favourite.
One of the most dangerous men in river? Buys Egbo privileges,
1861? Original Yellow Duke escaped from a ship, and received his
name because of his yellow complexion. He bought the slave called
Namatc who took his name and became the great Yellow Duke.
Both belonged to Ekpo Offiong family of Duke House. The great
Yellow Duke built a two-storey house, proving he was a full
member of Egbo. He died in 1888? Is a great trader?
Sources:1 Marwick, p. 398, 12 Apr. 1862.2 UPCMR n.s. 5, (1 Oct. 1884), 307,
cit. Wm. S. Peebles. 3 Burton to Russell, 15 Apr. 1864, FO84/1221.
4 Burton to Russell, 22 May 1862, No. 16, FO84/1176. 5 Black Davis
House Book, 24 Nov. 1861, p. 38. 0 Chief Asuquo Okody, Head of
Yellow Duke Family, 9 Dec. 1966. 7 Observations on letter to Lord
Salisbury, from Mr. George Jos Turner, of Old Calabar, 25 Oct. 1887.
Signed Hewett, 16 Sept. 1887, FO84/1828.
156 APPENDIX 3
NAME WARD
Bassey Henshaw Duke Duke
Is a slave of late Henshaw Duke, and oil trader.
Source: Hutchinson to Clarendon, 20 Feb. 1857, ST 8, F084/1030.

George Duke Duke

Led Henshaw Duke faction in farm war of 1852.1 Vassal of Great
Duke Ephraim, came from Aqua. Dies c. Oct. 1879.2
Sources:1 Anderson to Goldie and Ross, 10 Dec. 1879, FO84/1654. 2 Marwick,
p. 263, cit. Anderson, 9 Aug. 1852.

John Archibong Archibong

Brother to King Archibong I.1 Young Eyo detained on account of
John Archibong’s trade debts, 1855.2 In debt to shipping, 1859.3
Crowned Archibong II, 1859.4 Dies 25 Aug. 1872.8
Sources:1 Anderson, Journal, 21 Feb. 1852. 2 Waddell, Journal, vol. 11, p. 9,
21 Sept. 1855.3 Hutchinson to Malmesbury, 2 Mar. 1859, ST 8, FO84/
1087.4 Marwick, p. 377. 8 Anderson to Miss M. Duncan, 2 Sept. 1872,
in Anderson, Letters.

Adam Archibong Archibong

Young Eyo detained on board ship for Adam and John Archi­
bong’s debts, 1855.1 Is imprisoned on board ship for debt, 1859.2
Half brother of King John Archibong (Archibong II).3 Probable
successor to Archibong II, is exercising power.4 Dies 5 or 6 May

Sources:1 Waddell, Journal, vol. 11, p. 9,21 Sept. 1855. 2 Duke Town Chiefs to
Hutchinson, 1 Mar. 1859, in Hutchinson to Malmesbury, 21 Mar. 1859,
ST ^084/1087. 3 Burton to Russell, 15 Apr. 1864, FO84/1221.
Anderson to Rcvd. Dr. MacGill, 25 Mar. 1873, Anderson, Letters.
- Marwick, p. 567.

Mr. Young Eyamba

Secretary and brother of Eyamba V, 1846.1 Brother of Antera
r Uhdi Secretary of state to Archibong I, and claims to be ‘King
° packmen’.3 Is rival for throne on death of Archibong I, with
Duke Ephraim. Calls himself Eyamba VI, 1852.4 Is bad trader.8
iociTty1 Sundays.0 Made Eyamba or keeper of all the Egbos,
ISM. uies 11 Feb. 1855.8 Dies insolvent prior to 5 Jan. 1856.°
Sources: ‘ Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 259. 2 Ibid., p. 337. 2 Ibid., p. 393.
Wid., p. 497 S Ibidp. 392. o Marwick, p. 208. 7 Anderson, Journal,
i851- ’ Marwick, p. 313." Waddell, Journal, vol. II, p. 36, 5 Jan.
lojb.
 APPENDIX 3 157
NAME WARD

Antera Young Eyamba

Mr. Young’s brother, 1847.1 Is second man in Duke Town to
Archibong II, 1859.2 Is head of Egbo and candidate for Kingship
on death of King Duke Ephraim, but too old to advance claim,
1859.3
Sources: 1 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 337.2 Marwick, p. 378. 3 Hutchinson to
Malmesbury, 2 Mar. 1859, ST 8, FO84/1087.

Bassey Offiong Eyamba

Duke Town Gentleman.1 Attends Mission meetings in Eyamba V’s
yard, which implies he is of Eyamba family, 1849.2 Is detained on
board Magistrate for debts.3 Abasi Offiong (Basscy Offiong) is one
of the three main segments of Eyamba house. Bassey Offiong is the
name of the head of this segment. Coco Basscy family is descended
from Coco Basscy, a slave of Basscy Offiong.4

Sources: 1 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 485. 2 Marwick, p. 206. 3 Anderson,

Journal, 20 Jan. 1852.4 John Coco Bassey, 11 Jan. 1966.

Bassey Africa Eyamba

Slave of Basscy Offiong, who took over family when Basscy Offiong
died.1 Of Ibo origin, kept Coco Basscy as a boy.2 Is oil trader,
1856.3 His remains brought to town, Nov. 1867.4 (See Basscy
Offiong.)

Sources:1 Regarding Otu Bassey Ofion, Coco Bassey Papers p. 8. 2 Generation

of Coco Otu Bassey, as information for his children. Coco Bassey
Papers, pp. 2-7. 3 Hutchinson to Clarendon, 1 Nov. 1856, No. 128,
F084/1001.4 UPCMR, n.s. 11 (2 Mar. 1868), 38 cit. Anderson, Journal,
27 Nov. 1867.

Enni Cobham Cobham

Brother of Antika Cobham.1 Sits with King Eyo and Duke
Ephraim to stop poison-bean ordeals on death of Archibong I.2
Once fought with brother, Antika, in King’s palaver house, so had
slaves taken from him. But via his industry as trader has recovered
position, 1846.3 Boco Cobham his brother or son.4 Shrewd active
businessman sometimes called King of Cobham Town, Duke Town.5
Dies 9 Nov. 1865, Chief of Cobham Town.0
Dies 9 Nov. 1865, leaving sons Eyo, Andcm, and John Antika.7

Sources: 1 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 258.2 Ibid., p. 498.3 Waddell, Journal,

vol. 1, 2 May 1846.4 UPCMR 1 (Oct. 1846), 154.5 Marwick, pp. 205-6.
0 Ibid., p. 410.7 UPCMR n.s. 1 (1 Mar. 1866), 42-3, Mrs. Sutherland,
29 Nov. 1865.
158 APPENDIX 3
NAME WARD
Egbo Jack Cobham
Is trader, as stands security for Eyamba V’s debts.1 Previously of
Duke Town, now lives at Creek Town, 1849.2 Has own palaver
house at Creek Town.3 Is head of Jack Town, one division of
Creek Town.4 Gives assent for abolition of Creek Town Sunday
market, his assent being essential, 1850.5 Faction fight with Ambos
1850, Jacks have own chief and palaver house.® Faction fight Jacks
v. Ambos, 1852.’ Dies insolvent.8
Dies January 1855.®
A slave in Cobham (?).10
The information that he was a slave is in doubt, as it is not clear
whether the same Egbo Jack was being referred to. If he was a slave,
then his position as head of Jack family of Cobham in the early
fifties makes him one of the earliest successful slaves.
Sources:1 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 274. 2 Ibid., p. 400. 3 Ibid., p. 505.
4 Ibid., p. 506. 5 Waddell, Journal, vol. 8, p. 25, 11 Aug. 1850. 6 Ibid.,
vol. 8, p. 46, 2 Nov. 1850. 7 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, pp. 507-8.
8 Waddell, Journal, vol. 11, p. 36, 5 Jan. 1856. 9 Marwick, p. 313.
10 Chief Joseph Henshaw, 18 Feb. 1966.
Antica Ambo Ambo
Family head in Ambo described as Old Antica Ambo, 1855.1
Antica Ambo imprisoned by Captain Davies, therefore an oil
trader, 1856.2 Antica Ambo and Tom Eyo are the two elders of
Creek Town, 1858.3 Old Antica Ambo and King Cameroons,
Chiefs of Mbarakom.4
Sources: 1 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 572.2 King Eyo to Hutchinson, 25 July
1856, in Hutchinson to Clarendon, 28 July 1856, No. 97, F084/1001.
3 UPCMR 14 (Mar., 1859), 50, cit. Goldie’s Journal, 23 Dec. 1858.
4 UPCMR (1 Mar. 1864), p. 39, cit. Goldie’s Journal, 21 Nov. 1863.
A//?,? Cameroons Ambo
Real na,Pe Hem Aret.1 Ambo, and King Eyo’s right-hand man.2
Ambo. One of Ambo Chiefs, 1850.4 Old Antica Ambo and King
• tmk\°2nu’ Chicfs of Mbarakom (Ambo), 1863.5 Ikot Esien,
inhabited by Mbara Korn, the part of Creek Town of which King
Cameroons is now head, 1866.° Master of Peter King Cameroons,
who takes over family on his death, although a slave.’
Sources: ■ Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 346. 5 Ibid., pp. 462-3. ’ Ibid., p. 506.
, ™addcl1. Journal, vol. 8, p. 46, 2 Nov. 1850. ‘ UPCMR 19 (1 Mar.
39. cit. Goldie’s Journal, 21 Nov. 1863. 5 UPCMR N.s. 1 (Oct.
ooo), 186, cit. Goldie’s Journal, 15 May 1866. 7 Petition of Prince
anJcs Eyamba V on behalf of Peter King Cameroons, to Earl Granville,
Sept. 1881. FO84/1612.
Hogan Bassey ” Ambo
MesTnfJr att?ndant. 1846.' Of Ambo? Of Ambo Town.3 Negoti-
10n fight between Jacks and Ambos in Creek Town.4
Sources: ‘'Yaddcll> Twenty-Nine Years, p. 263.3 Ibid., p. 508.3 Waddell, Journal,
: • 8’ p- 46, 2 Nov. 1850.1 Ibid.
 APPENDIX 3 159
NAME WARD
King Eyo Honesty II Eyo
Dances in Bunko dance.1 Is king in Creek Town via his family ties
and wealth.2 Fire at his house causes £5,000-£10,000 damage,
1852.3 Has commanding position in Egbo despite his claims to the
contrary.1 Dies suddenly, 3 Dec. 1858.5 (Sec chapter 7.)
Sources: 1 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 357.2 Waddell, Journal, vol. 8, p. 46,
2 Nov. 1850. 3 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 499. 4 Ibid., p. 609.
6 Marwick, p. 376.

Toni Eyo Eyo

Is King of Calabar after Eyo I, and before Eyo II.1 Is King Bunko
(Ebunko), 1847.2 Is King Eyo’s eldest brother.3 Father Tom, King’s
eldest brother, and head of Honesty family properly. Has three
sons, eldest Young Tom Eyo, next Eyo Tom Eyo, last Eyo Eyo
Tom.4 Becomes Eyo IV.5 Tom Eyo too good as King, crowned by
Burton 7 May, 1862.° Is King of Creek Town, and fears bloodmen,
1864.7 Dies night 21-2 Mar. 1865.8
Sources: 1 Waddell, Journal, vol. 7, p. 67, 6 Jan. 1850. 2 Waddell, Twenty-Nine
Years, p. 357. 3 Ibid., p. 428.4 Waddell, Journal, vol. II, p. 88, 1 Sept.
1856. 5 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 651. 0 Burton to Russell,
15 Apr. 1864, FO 84/1221. 7 UPCMR 19 (1 Feb. 1864), 245.8 Ibid. 20
(1 July 1865), 135.

John Eyo Eyo

Is Eyo H’s brother.1 Crowned Eyo V, 9 June 1865.2 Is good king,
trying to stop barbarous customs.3 Is brother of Doctor Eyo.4 Dies
11 June 1868, succeeded by Dr. Eyo.5
Sources: 1 Marwick, p. 261. 2 UPCMR 20 (1 Nov. 1865), 205-6, cit. Goldie’s
Journal, 9 June 1865. 3 Livingstone to Stanley, 28 Dec. 1867, No. 38,
FO84/1277. 4 UPCMR N.s. 11 (Sept. 1868), 170-1, cit. S. H. Edgerley,
22 June 1868. 5 Ibid.

Doctor Eyo Eyo

King Eyo H’s brother, and father-in-law to Young Eyo.1 King
Eyo H’s brother.2
Ibok Eyo (Dr. Eyo) to succeed Eyo V, is brother of Eyo V.3 Un­
animously elected King on death of Eyo V. Crowned by Wilson,
3 Feb. 1869.4 Talks of desire of Creek Town people to put them­
selves under protection of Ndem Efik again, now kept at Duke
Town. Declares Ndetn Efik wouldn’t allow them twin mothers and
their babies.6
Sources: 1 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 609.2 Waddell, Journal, vol. 8, p. 35*
21 Sept. 1850.3 UPCMR N.s. 11 (Sept. 1868), p. 171, cit. S. H. Edgerley,
22 June 1868. 4 Wilson to Foreign Secretary, 23 Feb. 1869, No. 8,
FO84/1308.5 UPCMR N.s., vol. 3, p. 479, cit. Goldie’s Journal, 1 May
1871.
 160 APPENDIX 3

1 NAME WARD
Thomas Hogan Unknown
Pilot for ships coming up river.1 Is messenger from King Archibong
on Waddell’s Umon trip, 1851.2 Pilot, chief interpreter, and speaker
for Duke Town, in Efcpe-Mission palaver.3 Dies 4 August 1861,
local pilot, constant attender at public worship, very intelligent,
pro-mission in native councils, not very wealthy, but his intelli­
gence gives him respect amongst Gentlemen of Duke Town.4
Probably of Eyamba family, as Tom Hogan (probably his son) and
Young Egbo Young Hogan, son of his relation Egbo Young Hogan,
both signed Prince James Eyamba V’s letter to Hewett, protesting
that King Duke was unacceptable. All the names on the letter
appear to be of Eyamba ward.6 He signed his own name on most of
the treaties.
Thomas Hogan was probably of Eyamba family, and the fact he
was pilot and interpreter, makes it possible that he was a slave.
But there is no evidence to prove this to date.
Sources:1 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 485. Waddell, Journal, vol. 7, p. 40,
17 Nov. 1849.2 Waddell, Twenty-Nine Years, p. 463. 3 Waddell, Journal,
vol. 11, p. 75, 14 June 1856. 4 Marwick, pp. 395-6. 6 Prince James
Eyamba V and others to Consul Hewett, 24 June 1881, No. 4, p. 16,
FO403/18.

Egbo Young Hogan Unknown

Signs document allowing Yellow Duke negro bells, therefore is a
member of the upper grades of Ekpe.1
Source: Black Davis House Book, 24 Nov. 1861, p. 38.

Tobby Tom Unknown

No information.

Efiong Ludianah Unknown

No information except that the Ludianah was a ship which visited
Old Calabar.

Ephraim Henshaw Duke Unknown

No information.

Tom Offiong Unknown

No information.

Egbo Tom Unknown

Gives Anderson a mat as a present when he leaves Calabar, is from
Duke Town.1 Is a trader?
Somces:> Anderson, Journal, 12 May 1851. = Hutchinson to S. J. Hill, 25 May
1858, Inc. 6, in Hutchinson to Malmesbury, 25 May 1858, ST 23,
FO84/1061.
 APPENDIX 3 161
NAME WARD
John Ephraim Unknown
No information.

John Duke Unknown

Imprisoned on Princess Royal1 (so a trader).
Source: Anderson, Journal, 10 Aug. 1852.

King War Unknown

No information.
 Appendix 4
Sources to Chart 7: List of Treaties and Agreements signed by Duke
Town Chiefs, 1875-1884.

1. Agreement between Henshaw Town and Duke Town, 28 Sept. 1875, in

Hartley to Derby, 30 Oct. 1875, No. 46, FO84/1418.
2. Agreement between Henshaw Town and Duke Town, 6 Sept. 1878 (not
enclosed in anything), FO84/1508.
3. Agreement on Sacrifices, Trade, and Commerce, 1878. 6 Sept. 1878 (not
enclosed in anything), FO84/1508.
4. Treaty with Kings and Chiefs of Old Calabar, 10 Sept. 1884, Inc. 16 in No. 13’
p. 27, FO403/47.

Note: Names mentioned only once have been omitted from Chart.

Names omitted from Chart 7, 1875-1884

Treaties or Treaties or
agreements where agreements where
names appeared names appeared
Lord Archibong 1 Big Adam Duke 3
Effiong Otu (Old Town) 1 A. Eyamba 3
Egbo Young Etam 1 Ene Black Davis 3
Prince Samuel Eyamba 1 Aduk Ephraim Duke 3
Egbo King Archibong II 2 Ephraim Lewis 3
Eyo Ita 3 Eshien Etem Bassey Ofiiong 3
Edem Ephraim Adam 3 Offiong Effiono Imah 4
Ephraim Eyo Duke 3 P. Ejro Eyamba 4
Joseph George Duke 3 Prince Egbo Archibong 4
Archibong Henshaw Duke 3 Hogan Archibong 4
... Archibong
Egbo King 3 John Anderson 4
 APPENDIX 4 163
Personal Details of Signatories
NAME WARD
George Duke Duke
See 1842-62 list (page 156).

Henshaw Duke Duke

Is interesting and good-looking lame boy of about 16, (1846-7).1
Is oil trader.2 Presumably Henshaw Duke, son of Henshaw Duke
(see 1842-62 list).3 Egbo’s confiscated after palaver with Cuthbert­
son.4 Is oil trader.6 In dispute with Prince Archibong III, (Archi-
bong Edem), over Ekancm Eflanga’s property.8 In dispute with
Archibong Edem.7
Sources:1 UPCMR 2 (Aug. 1847), p. 122, Revd. Wm. Jameson.2 Calvert to Bcc-
croft, undated in Beccroft to Malmesbury, 28 June 1852, FO84/886.
3 Waddell, Journal, vol. 10, p. 41, 11 Sept. 1854. 4 Guarantee, Eyo
Honesty and Duke Ephraim, 20 Sept. 1856, Inc. 10 in Hutchinson to
Clarendon, 23 Sept. 1856, No. 115, F084/I001. 6 Trust due by Duke
Town to Coupcr Scott & Co., Hulk Queen of England, on a/c Mr.
Johns, 12 Nov. 1877, Calprof Ibadan 5/1. 8 Harold G. White to Prince
Archibong III, 9 July 1885, Calprof Ibadan 4/2.7 Hewett to Salisbury,
4 Sept. 1885, Africa, FO84/I701.

Yellow Duke Duke

Sec 1842-62 list (page 155).

Prince Duke Duke

Named Orok.1 Is trader.2 Claims George Duke’s property on his
death, as he was a slave or vassal.3 Crowned King 17 Apr. 1880.4
Acting King and head of Duke House, at variance with Eyamba
House.6 Crowned 2nd time, 8 Aug. 1882.° Is Juju high priest.7 Not
Christian. Comes to Consulate nude except for hat.8
Sources:1 Marwick, p. 578.2 Trust due by Duke Town to Couper Scott & Co.,
Hulk Queen of England, on a/c Mr. Johns, 12 Nov. 1877, Calprof
Ibadan 5/1. 3 Wm. Anderson to Goldie and Ross, 10 Dec. 1879,
FO84/1654. 4 Marwick, p. 573. 6 Hewett to Granville, 16 Feb. 1882
FO84/1617. 6 Hewett to Granville, 14 Aug. 1882, ST 13, FO84/1617.
’ Turner to Salisbury, 25 Oct. 1887, No. 249, p. 197, FO403/73.8 Report
on British Protectorate of the Oil Rivers, Johnston, in Johnston to
Foreign Office, 1 Dec. 1888. Section F, Ethnology.

Hogan Ironbar Duke

Prcsumbably son of Ironbar.1 Banished from Hulks.2 Ironbar
family in Duke House.3 Trader.4
Sources 1 Sec Chapter 6, p. 97.2 Hogan Ironbar to White, Chairman of Court of
Equity, 25 Sept. 1876, Calprof Ibadan 3/2. 3 Efiom Edcm Ironbar,
15 Jan. 1966.4 Trust Due by Duke Town to Coupcr Scott & Co., Hulk
Queen of EnSland, on a/c Mr. Johns, 12 Nov. 1877, Calprof Ibadan 5/1.
M
164 APPENDIX 4
NAME WARD
Adam Ironbar Duke
Probably son of Ironbar and brother of Hogan Ironbar, see Hogan
Ironbar. Oil Trader.1 Ironbar family in Duke.2
Sources:1 Adam Ironbar to Gillis, Chairman of Court of Equity, 19 Apr. 1883,
Calprof Ibadan 3/2.2 Efiom Edcm Ironbar, 15 Jan. 1966.

Archibong III Archibong

See Adam Archibong on 1842-62 lists (p. 156).

Prince Archibong II Archibong

Presumably son of Archibong II, as son of Archibong III was
Prince Archibong III. No other evidence.

Prince Archibong III Archibong

Is Asibon Edem III, wealthy, powerful, headstrong, eldest son of
last King of Calabar (Archibong III). Would be serious contender
for crown if it were not elective.1 Seizes Etim Basscy Henshaw al­
though he was in company of European, this being contrary to Egbo
law. Had previously seized some Cobham chiefs. Is of Archibong
House.2 Is beyond restraint.3 His people in dispute with Duke
people about Egbo Archibong’s house on disputed ground.4 King
Duke to rebuild Archibong Edcm’s places destroyed or compensate
him.5 Unsatisfactory settlement of local war so it threatens again.0
Keeps Okon Ma in chains, claiming him as slave.7 His people leave
Calabar for Rio del Rcy.8 Trader.0
Sources:1 George Watts to ?, 6 Feb. 1882, Calprof Ibadan 4/1, vol. 9.2 Hewett to
Granville, 16 Feb. 1882, ST2, FO84/1617. 3 Hewett to Granville, 17
Feb. 1882, ST5, FO84/1617. 4 James Munro, Chairman of Court of
19 Jan. 1885, Inc. 1 in Act. Con. White to Granville, 21 Jan.
1885, No. 4, Africa, FO84/1701. 5 Act. Consuls Decision re recent
disturbances in Calabar, Act. Consul Harold G. White, (undated)
wf- 1885), Calprof Ibadan 5/8, vol. 11. 0 Prince Archibong III, to
White, 13 Mar. 1885, Calprof Ibadan 4/1 vol. 10. 7 Thomas to White,
iwf r 885, Calprof Ibadan 4/1, vol. 10.8 Johnston to Consul, 22 Nov.
1886, Calprof Ibadan 4/1, vol. 10.0 Notice, 13 Apr. 1888, signed John­
ston, in Hewett to Salisbury, 20 June 1888, No. 25, FO84/1881.

Janies Ephraim Adam Archibong

Consul burns Ephraim Adam’s house for ill treatment of one of his
servan s y one of Ephraim Adam’s men. Archibongs leave town
except Archibong Edem.
Soww: Journal^o^Commercc, 30 May, 1891, Book of Newspaper Cuttings,
 APPENDIX 4 165
name ward
Prince James Eyamba V Eyamba
Old Mission scholar, becomes Chief minister on death of Archi-
bong II. Archibong III probable successor, 1872.1 Elder and
superintendent of Sabbath school, conducts the Efik services.’
24 Dec. 1881, withdraws from Church when Ross withdraws.3 Is
trader.4 Head of Eyamba House, at difference with Duke House.5
Threatens to withdraw from Calabar and go elsewhere, because
Prince Duke, King, is licentious and superstitious.® Is prohibited
from trading, 1888.7 Was Prince Eyamba V, as son of Eyamba V.
Sources:1 Marwick, p. 507.2 Ibid., p. 577. 3 Ibid., p. 581.4 Balance of Trust due
Coupcr Scott & Co., 1879, John Holt papers, 12/7. 6 Hewett to Gran­
ville, 16 Feb. 1882, ST 2, FO84/1617. 6 Hewett to Granville, 17 Feb.
1882, ST 5, FO84/1617. 7 Notice, 13 Apr. 1888, signed Johnston, in
Hewett to Salisbury, 20 June 1888, No. 25, FO84/1881.

Joseph Eyamba Eyamba

Signs himself Joseph Eyamba V on letter from Prince James Eyamba
V to Hewett declaring that King Duke is not acceptable. Hence he
must be another son of King Eyamba V.
Source: Prince James Eyamba V etc. to Consul Hewett, 24 June 1881, No. 4,
p. 16, FO403/18.

Effiong Efiwatt Unknown

Summons all Chiefs of Duke Town to elect King, 1882, as is oldest
of chiefs.
Source: Hewett to Granville, 14 Aug. 1882, ST 13, FO84/1617.

Eyo E. Ndem Unknown

No information.

Henshaw Toby Unknown

Is trader.
Source: Balance of Trust due Couper Scott & Co., 1879, 25 Nov. 1879, Inc. in
Statement of Goods and Trust due at Old Calabar, 12 Feb. 1880, John
Holt Papers, 12/7.
 Sources and Bibliography

The following are to be thanked for their assistance, in personally supplying

information.

Chief U. E. E. Adam, Chief E. E. E. A. A. Akabom, Mr. E. N. Amaku, Chief

Edem E. Antera, Mr. Okon E. E. Anwan, Etubom A. E. Archibong, Chief Maurice
Efana Archibong, Chief Oko Efiom Asiya, Mr. Efiong Ukpong Aye, Mr. Andrew
Basscy, Chief E. A. E. Ekpo Bassey, Chief Etim Otu Bassey, Chief John Coco
Bassey, Mr. Okon Basscy, Mr. J. C. Berry, Chief Ene Ndem Ephraim Duke, His
Highness the Mori of Efut, Edet Edem, M.O.N., Mr. Xavier Nyong Edcm, Chief
Bruno Efa, Chief Antigha Efefiom, Chief Efiom Obo Effanga, Chief Otu Otu
Effiom, Chief Thomas A. Efiom, M.O.N., Chief E. Ekpenyong, M.B.E., Chief
Nicholas Efa Ensa, Mr. Efiotu Ephraim, Prince J. A. E. Ephraim, Chief Etim
Hogan Etim, Mr. A. Etim, Chief Ekeng Ewa, Chief Ekeng Ewatt, M.B.E., Etubom
Effa John Eyamba, Chief Effiong Nta Eyibio, Etubom E. E. E. Eyo II, Chief Henry
Eo Eyo, Chief E. Daniel Henshaw, Chief Joseph Henshaw, Chief Michael
Henshaw, Chief Okon Ma Ikot, Revd. James Osonye Ikpcme, Mrs. Nya Eniang
Inyang, Mr. Efiom Edem Ironbar, Etubom Eyo Nsa Eyo Ita. Mr. K. Jackson,
Chief O. U. Ndok, Mr. Eyo Nkune, Chief Paul Ntuk, Mr. E. E. Nya, Chief
L. A. Essicn Offiong, Chief Offiong Obobo Offiong, Chief Asuquo Okody, Mr.
O. E. Okokon, Chief Asuquo Edet Okon, Hon. Bassey Okon, M.P., His Royal
Highness Chief The Hon. Ika Ika Oqua II, M.H.C., M.O.N., The Ntoe of Big
Qua Town, Mr. Ansa O.E. Otudor, Chief Nyong Edet Uyo.

MANUSCRIPT SOURCES

PRIVATE PAPERS
Anderson, Revd. William
Journal, 1851-2
Foreign Mission Dept., Church of Scotland, 121 George Street, Edinburgh.
Hitherto unknown, this gives vital information on the so-called slave revolts.
Letters
MSS. 2981, National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh.
Journal, 1831-40
MSS. 2982, National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh.
Notes on Old Calabar Mission for Revd. James Buchanan, 1885.
MSS. 2983, National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh.
Black Davis
Papers
47 Garden street, Calabar.
The family papers of one of the great nineteenth-century ward members,
containing material dating from the 1830s. Invaluable for inside information
on the economic, social, and political development of Old Calabar.
 SOURCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY 167
Coco Bassey
Papers
John Coco Basscy, 17 Coco Basscy Street, Calabar.
Two diaries of the 1880s, and an autobiography.
John Holt Papers
Papers
John Holt & Co., 250 India Buildings, Water Street, Liverpool 2.
Holt & Gregson Papers
Papers
Brown, Picton & Hornby Libraries, William Brown Street, Liverpool 3.
Johnston, Sir H. H.
Diaries, Journals, Correspondence, and other papers. National Archives of
Rhodesia, P.O. Box 8043, Causeway, Rhodesia.
Microfilm, 53 OS 80-1. 53 OY 35: 2. University Library, Ibadan.
Livingstone, Charles
Letters written during his service as H.M. Consul at Fernando Po and Old
Calabar.
National Archives of Rhodesia, P.O. Box 8043, Causeway, Rhodesia.
Microfilm, 53 OY 35: 3. University Library, Ibadan.
Marwick, Rev. IK.
African Papers
MSS. GEN 768, Edinburgh University Library.
Offiong III, E. E.
Papers
Chief L. A. Essien Offiong, 10 Edgerley Road, Calabar.
Trade Ledgers, Court Records, Leiter Books, etc., relating to turn of century.
Slessor, Mary
Papers
Mr. Dan Slessor, 3-4 Probyn Street, Calabar.
Unseen. In correspondence Mr. Slessor discounts their importance.
Waddell, Revd. Hope Masterton
Journal, vols. 1, 7, 8, 10, 11.
MSS. National Library of Scotland.

OFFICIAL RECORDS
Board of Trade Papers
Public Record Office, Chancery Lane, London.
BT 1/545/1794. Correspondence and Report of the Olinda Affair.
Calabar Provincial Papers (Calprof)
National Archives, Ibadan.
3/2
4/1 vol. 2, 4/1 vol. 3, 4/1 vol. 4, 4/1 vol. 5, 4/1 vol. 6, 4/1 vol. 7,4/1 vol.9,4/1
vol. 10,4/2,4/3 vol. 1,4/3 vol. 2, 5/1, 5/7, 5/8 vol. 1, 5/8 vol. 2, 5/8 vol. 11, 5/9,
8/2 vol. 1.
Remnants of Fernando Po Consular Archives, including Court of Equity
Records.
National Archives, Enugu.
Vast series, mostly relating to the twentieth century’, but including a series of
Consular Despatches from Fernando Po in the nineteenth century.
168 SOURCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
Colonial Office Papers
Public Record Office, Chancery Lane, London.
CO82, Fernando Po. vols. 1-9.
CO267, Sierra Leone, vols. 85, 98.
CO879, African (West). vols. 62, 66.
Foreign Office Papers
Public Record Office, Chancery Lane, London.
FO2. Africa Consular. 6, 7, 16, 47.
FO84. Slave Trade. The most important single source. 14, 19, 38, zoz, juz,
384, 439, 492, 495, 549, 555, 607, 612, 710, 746,748, 775, 785, 816, 818, 858,
886, 975, 1001, 1030, 1061, 1087, 1117, 1147, 1176, 1221, 1249, 1277, 1308,
1326,1343,1356,1377,1401,1418,1455,1487, 1508, 1569,1612,1617, 1630,
1634,1654,1655,1660,1701,1828, 1866, 1881, 1882, 1940, 1941, 2020.
FO403. Confidential Prints. 18, 19, 20, 31, 32, 47, 71, 72, 73, 131, 132, 134,
171,187.
Native Court Records
Customary Court, Calabar.
Presbyterian Church of Nigeria
Papers and Records Presbyterian Church of Eastern Nigeria Archives, Synod
Clerks Office, P.O. Box 14, Afikpo.
Unseen, as in process of removal to Enugu.
Miscellaneous
Papers
Old Residency, Calabar.
Papers
Brown, Picton & Hornby Libraries, William Brown Street, Liverpool 3.

UNPUBLISHED OFFICIAL REPORTS

assessment reports
National Archives, Ibadan.
Abakaliki Division, Ogoja Province, 1927.
L. A. C. Helbert, D.O. A.R. 3. 20751.
Adun Clan, Obubra Division, Ogoja Province, 1927.
N. A. C. Weir, A.D.O. A.R. 6. 27640.
Aro District, Calabar Province, 1927.
E. N. Mylius, A.D.O. A.R. 10. 20690.
Calabar Division, Calabar Province, 1927.
C. F. Coley, Cadet. A.R. 31. 20689.
Itu District, Enyong Division, Calabar Province, 1927.
E. J. Price, D.O. A.R. 66. 20688.
Uyo District, Calabar Province, 1927.
K. V. Hanitsh, A.D.O. A.R. 134. 20682.
intelligence reports
National Archives, Ibadan.
Afikpo Clan of Ogoja Province, 1931.
H. Waddington, D.O. I.R. 27511.
Aro Clan of Arochuku District, Calabar Province, 1933.
T. M. Shankland, A.D.O. I.R. 29017.
 SOURCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY 169
Efik Clan, Calabar Province, vol. 1, 1932.
E. N. Mylius, D.O. I.R. 27627.
Efik Clan, Calabar Province, vol. II, 1933.
E. C. Aiderton. Acting A.D.O. I.R. 27627.
Enyong Clan, Aro District, Calabar Province, 1935.
N. A. P. G. Mackenzie, A.D.O. I.R. 31382.
Itam Clan of Enyong, Itu Division, Calabar Province, 1932.
S. L. Knight, A.D.O. I.R. 29807.
Ikom, Nkum & Obokun Mbaba, Villages of Ikom Division, Ogoja Province,
1934. L. E. H. Fellows, D.O. I.R. 29966.
Itu Clan of Itu District, Calabar Province, 1935.
R. Floyer, A.D.O. I.R. 31013.
Okoyong Clan, of Calabar Division, Calabar Province, 1931.
L. Scaly King, D.O. I.R. 27674.
National Archives, Enugu.
Uruan Clan, Uyo District, Calabar Province, 1932.
Capt. H. P. James, D.O. I.R. 120 EP 9303A.

MISCELLANEOUS
National Archives, Ibadan.
Report on Oil Palm Survey in Ibo, Ibibio, and Cross River areas.
A. F. B. Bridges, D.O., 1938. CSO 26.1528.17696.
National Archives, Enugu.
Report on the Cultivation of Oil Palm.
Calprof 14/3/801. E/2760/1908.
Palm Kernels and Oil exported from Eastern Province. Answers to queries
on marked discrepancy in 1912.
Calprof 53/1/332.
Concerning the possibility of an export trade in Maize from the Cross River
District.
Calprof 16/2/913. EP/1830/1907.

PUBLISHED OFFICIAL SOURCES

PARLIAMENTARYPAPERS
P.P. 1789, (573-6), Ixxxi. An account of the Value and Amount of the Pro­
duction of Africa imported into Great Britain, from the Year 1771 to 1788.
P.P. 1789, (635), Ixxxiii. Minutes of the Evidence taken before the Committee
to consider the circumstances of the Slave Trade.
P.P. 1789, (646), Ixxxiv. Papers received since the Date of the Report of the
Committee for Trade, on the Subject of the Trade to Africa, and particularly
the Trade in Slaves.
P.P. 1790, (698), Ixxxvii. Minutes of the Evidence taken before the Select
Committee appointed for the Examination of Witnesses on the Slave Trade.
PP. 1790 (699), Ixxxviii. Minutes of the Evidence taken before the Select Com­
mittee appointed for the Examination of Witnesses on the Slave Trade.
P.P. 1790-1 (745-748), xcii. Minutes of Evidence taken before the Select Com­
mittee appointed for the Examination of Witnesses on the Slave Trade.
170 SOURCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
P.P. 1798-9 (965), cvi. Minutes of Evidence taken on the Third Reading of the
Bill to prohibit the Trading for Slaves on the Coast of Africa, within certain
Limits.
P.P. 1816, vii, 2. Report from the Select Committee on Papers Relating to the
African Forts.
P.P. 1842 (551), xi, 1. Part 1. Report from the Select Committee appointed to
inquire into the state of the British Possessions on the West Coast of Africa.
P.P. 1842 (551), xii, 1. Part 2. Report from the Select Committee appointed
to inquire into the state of the British Possessions on the West Coast of
Africa.
P.P. 1845, (187), xlvi. Palm Oil annually imported into the United Kingdom
from the Western Coast of Africa, 1790-1844.
P.P. 1847-8 (272), xxii (1), 1st Report. Minutes of Evidence taken before the
Select Committee on the Slave Trade.
P.P. 1847-8 (366), xxii, (283) 2nd Report. Minutes of Evidence taken before the
Select Committee on the Slave Trade.
P.P. 1847-8 (536), xxii (467), 3rd Report. Minutes of Evidence taken before the
Select Committee on the Slave Trade.
P.P. 1849 (308) xix, 1,1st Report. Minutes of Evidence taken before the Select
Committee on the Slave Trade.
P.P. 1850 (53), ix. Minutes of Evidence before Select Committee on the
African Slave Trade.
P.P. 1852 (284), xlix. Correspondence etc. Relative to the Conveyance of Mails
to the West Coast of Africa.
P.P. 1854 (296), Ixv. Quantities of Palm Oil etc. imported, 1844-53.
P.P. 1856, Ixii. Africa (Consular)—Bight of Biafra.
P.P. 1857 (427), xvi, 1. Biafra.
P.P. 1863, Ixxi, Africa, (Consular)—Bight of Biafra.
P.P. 1865, Ivi, Africa, (Consular)—-Bight of Biafra.
P.P. 1865 (412), v. Report of Select Committee on Africa, (Western Coast).
P.P. 1865 (412), v. Minutes of Evidence taken before the Select Committee on
Africa, (Western Coast).
P.P. 1873, Ixv, (1). Africa, West Coast, Old Calabar.
P.P. 1893-4, (655), Ixii. General Correspondence, Africa No. 11. Correspond­
ence respecting the Affairs of the West Coast of Africa.
P.P. 1895 (1), xxi, 1, Africa No. 1 (1895) Report on the Administration of the
Niger Coast Protectorate, August 1891—August 1894.
P.P. 1899 (15), Ixiii. Africa, Trade, Shipping, Railways and Economic Con­
ditions Part IV, West Africa; Niger Protectorate.
P.P. 1901 cd (431-7), xlv, 727. Colonial Reports—Annual, No. 315 Southern
Nigeria, Report for 1899-1900.
P.P. 1902 cd (788-23), Ixv, 513. Colonial Reports, Annual, No. 353, Southern
Nigeria 1900.
P.P. 1903 cd (1388-5), xliii. Colonial Reports, Annual, No. 381, Southern
Nigeria, 1901.
P.P. 1906, cd (2684-5), Ixxv, 1. Colonial Reports, Annual, No. 459, Southern
Nigeria, 1904.
 SOURCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY 171
PUBLISHED OFFICIAL REPORTS
Report of the position, status, and influence of chiefs and natural rulers in the
eastern region of Nigeria. G. I. Jones, Enugu, 1957.
Report of the Enquiry into the dispute over the Obongship of Calabar.
A. K. Hart, Official Document 17, Enugu, 1964.

SELECT UNPUBLISHED THESES

Edokpayi, S. I., ‘The External Trade of the Gold Coast (Ghana) and Nigeria’
(Univ, of London M.Sc. (Econ.) thesis 1958).
Gertzel, C. J., ‘Imperial Policy towards the British Settlements in West Africa,
1860-1875’ (Oxford B. Litt, thesis 1959).
Gertzel, C. J., ‘John Holt: A British Merchant in West Africa in the Era of
“Imperialism” * (Oxford D. Phil, thesis 1960).
Hopkins, A. G., ‘An Economic History of Lagos, 1880-1914’ (Univ, of Londo
Ph.D. thesis 1964).
Merrit, J. E., ‘The Liverpool Slave Trade from 1789 to 1791’ (Univ, of Notting­
ham M.A. thesis 1959).
Morrill, W., ‘Two Urban Cultures of Calabar, Nigeria’ (Univ, of Chicago
Ph.D. thesis 1960).
Nair, Kannan Kutty, ‘Politics and Society in Old Calabar, 1841-1906’ (Univ,
of Ibadan Ph.D. thesis 1967).
Rumbel, Linda Jo, ‘Some Aspects of the Life of Maegregor Laird’ (Univ, of
Birmingham M.A. dissertation 1965).
Stilliard, N. H., ‘The Legitimate Trade in Palm Oil with West Africa’ (Univ, of
Birmingham M.A. thesis 1938).
Tamuno, S. M., ‘The Development of British Administrative Control of Southern
Nigeria, 1900-12: A study in the Administrations of Sir Ralph Moor, Sir
William MacGregor, and Sir Walter Egerton’ (Univ, of London Ph.D. thesis
1962).

MISCELLANEOUS UNPUBLISHED WORKS

Edem, Chief E. ‘A Brief History of Efut People’, Calabar, 1947.
Christiansen, J. E., Scrivner, C. L., Jones, F. C., Olive, F. R. ‘Preliminary
Survey of the Cross River Drainage Basin of Eastern Nigeria’, Ford Found­
ation and USAID, Enugu, 1963.

SELECT BOOKS
Abridgement of the Minutes of the Evidence {taken before a Committee ofthe whole
House, to whom it was referred to consider of the Slave Trade) (4 vols., London,
1789-91).
Adams, Capt. John, Sketches taken during ten voyages to Africa, between
the years 1786-1800 (London, 1822).
----- Remarks on the Country extending from Cape Palmas to the River Congo
(London, 1823).
Ajayi, J. F. A., Christian Missions in Nigeria, 1841-1891 (London, 1965).
Akinjogbin, I. A., Dahomey and its Neighbours, 1708-1818 (Cambridge,
1967).
Alagoa, E. J., The Small Brave City-State (Madison, 1964).
Anene, J. C., Southern Nigeria in Transition 1885-1906 (Cambridge, 1966).
172 SOURCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ayandele, E. A., The Missionary Impact on Modern Nigeria 1842-1914
(London, 1966).
Aye, Efiong Ukpong, Old Calabar through the Centuries (Calabar, 1967).
Bardot, John, A Collection of Voyages and Travels, vol. v, A Description of the
Coasts of North and South Guinea (London, 1732).
Barker, T. C., and Harris, J. R., A Merseyside Town in the Industrial
Revolution, St. Helens 1750-1900 (Liverpool, 1954).
Bi nd loss, Harold, In the Niger Country (Edinburgh and London, 1898).
Blake, J. W., European Beginnings in West Africa, 1454-1578 (London, 1937).
----- Europeans in West Africa, 1450-1560 (2 vols., London, 1942).
Bohannan, P., and Bohannan, L., Tiv Economy (London, 1968).
----- and Dalton, G., Markets in Africa (North Western University Press,
(1962).
Bold, Edward, The Merchants' and Mariners' African Guide (London, 1822).
Burton, Richard F., Wanderings in West Africa, from Liverpool to Fernando
Po (2 vols., London, 1863).
----- Abeokuta and the Cameroons Mountains (2 vols., London, 1863).
Crow, Capt. Hugh, Memoirs of the late Captain Hugh Crow of Liverpool
(London, 1830).
Daaku, K. Y., Trade and Politics on the Gold Coast 1600-1720 (Oxford, 1970).
Dapper, O., Description de L'Afrique (Amsterdam, 1686).
Davies, K. G., The Royal African Company (London, 1957).
Dickie, Revd. William, Story of the Mission in Old Calabar. See Missions
of the United Presbyterian Church.
Dike, K. O., Trade and Politics in the Niger Delta (Oxford, 1956).
Donnan, Elizabeth, Documents Illustrative of the History of the Slave Trade
to America (4 vols., Washington 193O-).
Douglas, Mary, and Kaberry, Phillis M., (eds.), Man in Africa (London,
1969).
Dudgeon, Gerald C., The Agricultural and Forest Products of British West
Africa (London, 1911).
Esiere, The Revd., As Seen Through African Eyes (London, 1935).
Eta, J. A., Chieftaincy in Calabar (Calabar, 1956).
Fage, J. D., An Atlas of African History (London, 1958).
----- A History of West Africa (Cambridge, 1969).
Falcondridge, Alexander, An Account of the Slave Trade on the Coast of
Africa (London, 1788).
Firth, Raymond (cd.), Themes in Economic Anthropology (London, 1967).
Flint, John E., Sir George Goldie and the Making of Nigeria (London, 1960).
Forde, Daryll (cd.), Efik Traders of Old Calabar (London, 1956).
----- and Jones, G. I. The Ibo and Ibibio-Speaking Peoples of South-Eastern
Nigeria (London, 1950).
----- and Kaberry, P. M., West African Kingdoms in the Nineteenth Century
(London, 1967).
Gann, L. H., and Duignan, Peter, Colonialism in Africa 1870-1960vol. 1
(Cambridge, 1969).
Goldie, Revd. Hugh, Dictionary of the Efik Language (Edinburgh, 1874).
----- Calabar and its Mission (London, 1890; new edn., (with Revd. J. T. D.
Aldingham) Edinburgh and London, 1901).
----- Memoir of King Eyo VII of Old Calabar (Old Calabar, 1894).
Hallett, Robin (ed.,), Records of the African Association 1788-1831 (London,
1964).
 SOURCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY 173
Hakluyt, Richard, The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques & Dis­
coveries of the English Nation (12 vols., Glasgow, 1904).
Hancock, W. K., Survey of British Commonwealth Affairs vol. 2, part 2,
South Africa and West Africa (London, 1942).
Hargreaves, J. D., Prelude to the Partition of West Africa (London, 1963).
Harleian Collection of Voyages and Travels (2 vols., London, 1745).
Hill, Polly, The Migrant Cocoa-Farmers of Southern Ghana (Cambridge,
1963).
Holman, James, R.N. Travels in Madeira, Sierra Leone, Teneriffe, St. Jago,
Cape Coast, Fernando Po, Princes Island, etc. etc. (2nd edn., London, 1840).
Holt, Cecil R. (ed.), The Diary ofJohn Holt, with The Voyage of the 'Maria'
(Liverpool, 1948).
Holt, John & Co., Merchant Adventure, (Northampton (?)).
Hughes, Edward, Studies in Administration and Finance, 1558-1825 (Man­
chester, 1934).
Huntley, Sir Henry Veel, Seven Years' Service on the Slave Coast of
Western Africa (2 vols., London, 1860).
H utchinson, T. J., Narrative ofthe Niger, Tshadda and Binue (2 vols., London,
1855).
----- Impressions of Western Africa (London, 1858).
----- Ten Years' Wanderings among the Ethiopians (London, 1861).
I ki me, Obaro, Merchant Prince of the Niger Delta (London, 1968).
Imona, Chief E., Chieftaincy in Calabar (Calabar, 1956).
Jamieson, Robert, Commerce with Africa (rev. cdn., London, 1859).
Jarvis, Rupert C., (cd.), Customs Letter-Books of the Port of Liverpool,
1711-1813 Chetham Society Publications, vol. 6, 3rd Ser. (Manchester, 1954).
Jeffreys, M.D.W., Old Calabar, and notes on the Ibibio Language (Calabar,
1935).
Johnson, Capt. Charles, A General History ofthe Robberies and Murders of
the most notorious Pirates (London, 1926).
Johnston, Alex, The Life and Letters of Sir Harry Johnston (London, 1929).
Johnston, Sir H. H., The History of a Slave (London, 1889).
----- The Opening Up of Africa (London, 1905).
----- The British Central Africa (London, 1906).
----- Backward Peoples and our relations with them (London, 1920).
----- The Story of My Life (London, 1923).
Jones, G. I., The Trading States of the Oil Rivers (London, 1963).
Kingsley, Mary H., West African Studies (London, 1899).
Laird, Macgregor, and Oldfield, R. A. K., Narrative of an expedition
into the interior of Africa by the River Niger (2 vols., London, 1837).
Lander, Richard, Records of Captain Clapperton's Last Expedition to Africa
(2 vols., London, 1830).
Lander, Richard, and Lander, John, Journal of An Expedition to Explore
the Course and Termination of the Niger (3 vols., London, 1832).
Lang, John, The Land of the Golden Trade—West Africa (London, 1907).
Lewis, I. M. (cd.), History and Social Anthropology (London, 1968).
A General and Descriptive History of the Ancient and Present State of the town of
Liverpool (Liverpool, 1795).
The History ofLiverpoolfrom the earliest authenticated period down to the present
time (Liverpool, 1810).
Livingstone, W. P., Mary Slessor of Calabar (7th edn., London, 1916).
Lloyd, C., The Navy and the Slave Trade (London, 1949).
174 SOURCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
McFarlan, Donald M., Calabar. The Church of Scotland Mission founded
1846 (rev. cdn., London, 1957).
MacInnes, C. M., England and Slavery (Bristol, 1934)."'
----- Bristol and the Slave Trade (Bristol, 1963).
McPhee, A., Economic Revolution in British West Africa (London, 1926).
MacQueen, James, A Geographical and Commercial view of Northern Centra
Africa (Edinburgh, 1821).
----- The Colonial Controversy (Glasgow, 1825).
----- A Letter to the Right Honourable Lord Glenelg on the West Indian Currency,
Commerce, African Slave Trade, etc. etc. (London, 1838).
----- A Geographical Survey of Africa (London, 1840).
Mannix, D. P., and Cowley, M., Black Cargoes: A History of the Atlantic
Slave Trade (London, 1963).
Marees, Pieter de, Description et Recit du Riche Royaume D'or de Gunea
(Amsterdam, 1605).
Martin, Anne, The Oil Palm Economy of the Ibibio Farmer (Ibadan, 1956).
Marwick, William, William and Louisa Anderson (Edinburgh, 1897).
Missions of the United Presbyterian Church, Story of the Mission in
Old Calabar, by Revd. William Dickie (Edinburgh, 1894).
Mockler-Ferryman, A. F., British West Africa: its rise and progress
(London, 1900).
----- British Nigeria (London, 1902).
Newbury, Colin W., The Western Slave Coast and its Rulers (Oxford,
1961).
----- ‘Trade and Authority in West Africa from 1850-1880’, in Gann, L. H.,
and Duignan, Peter, op. cit., ch. 2.
Nicolson, I. F., The Administration of Nigeria, 1900-1960 (Oxford, 1969).
Ogilby, John, Africa, being an accurate description of the regions of /Egypt,
Barbary, Lybia, and Billedulgerid, the land of Negroes, Guinee, /Ethiopia, and
the Abyssines, etc. (London, 1670).
Oliver, Roland, Sir Harry Johnston and The Scramble for Africa (London,
1957).
Owen, Capt. W. F. W., Narrative of Voyages to explore the shores of Africa,
Arabia, and Madagascar (2 vols., London, 1833).
Parkinson, C. Northcote, The Rise of the Port of Liverpool (Liverpool,
1952).
Parrinder, Geoffrey, West African Religion (London, 1961).
Partridge, Charles, Cross River Natives (London, 1905).
Perham, M., and Simmons, J., African Discovery (London, 1942).
Pinnock, J., Benin: The Surrounding Country, Inhabitants, Customs, Trade
(Liverpool, 1897).
Pope-Hennessy, James, Sins of the Fathers: A Study of the Atlantic Slave
Traders 1441-1807 (London, 1967).
Reade, W. Winwood, Savage Africa (London, 1863).
Robb, Alexander D. D., The Gospel to the Africans: A narrative of the life
and labours of W. Jameson in Jamaica and Old Calabar (2nd edn., Edinburgh,
1862).
Robertson, G. A., Notes on Africa (London, 1819).
Robinson, R., Gallagher, J., and Denny, Alice, Africa and the Vic­
torians (London, 1961).
Rodney, Walter, A History of the Upper Guinea Coast 1545-1800. (Oxford
4970).
 SOURCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY 175
Royal Geographical Society, Review of British Geographical Work,
during the hundred years 1789-1889 (London, 1893).
Ruel, Malcolm, Leopards and Leaders (London, 1969).
Ryder, A. F. C., Benin and the Europeans 1485-1897 (Ibadan History Series,
London, 1969).
Smith, John, Trade and Travels in the Gulph of Guinea, Western Africa (London,
1851).
Snelgrave, Capt. William, A New Account of Some Parts of Guinea, and
the Slave Trade (London, 1734).
Talbot, P. A., In the Shadow of the Bush (London, 1912).
----- Life in Southern Nigeria (London, 1923).
----- The Peoples of Southern Nigeria (4 vols., Oxford, 1926).
----- Tribes of the Niger Delta (London, 1932).
Thorp, Ellen, Ladder of Bones (London, 1956).
Troughton, T., The History of Liverpool (Liverpool, 1810).
Urquhart, D.H., Cocoa (2nd Impression, London, 1955).
Wad del, Agnes, Memorials of Mrs. Sutherland, of Old Calabar (Paisley,
1883).
Waddell, Revd. Hope Masterton, Twenty-Nine Years in the West Indies
and Central Africa (London, 1863).
Whitford, John, F.R.G.S., Trading Life in Western and Central Africa
(Liverpool, 1877).
Williams, E., Capitalism and Slavery (Richmond, Virginia, 1944).
Williams, Gomer, History of the Liverpool Privateers and Letters of Marque,
with an account of the Liverpool Slave Trade (London and Liverpool, 1897).

ARTICLES
Adams, R. F. G., ‘A new African Language and Script’, Africa, 17 (1 Jan.
1947), 24.
----- and Ward, Ida C. ‘The Arochuku Dialect of Ibo’, Africa, 2 (1932), 57.
Afigbo, A. E., ‘Efik Origin and Migrations Reconsidered’, Nigeria, 87 (Dec.
1965), 267.
Amaku, E. N., ‘Notes on Efik History’, Eastern Nigerian Mail (30 Nov. 1935),

A nene, J. C., ‘The Southern Nigerian Protectorate and the Aros, 1900-2’,
Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria, 1 (Dec. 1956), 20.
Ardener, Edwin, ‘Documentary and Linguistic Evidence for the Rise of the
Trading Polities between Rio del Rey and Cameroons 1500-1650’, in Lewis,
History and Social Anthropology, p. 81.
Beecroft, Capt., and King, J. B., ‘Explorations of Old Calabar River in
1841 and 1842’. Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, 14 (1844), 260.
Boh ann an, P., ‘Some Principles of Exchange and Investment among the Tiv',
American Anthropologist, 50 (1948), 60.
Bouchaud, J., ‘Les Portugais dans la Baie de Biafra au xvi*mc siecle’, Africa,
16 (1946), 217.
Bridges, A. F. B., ‘The Oil Palm Industry in Nigeria’, Fann and Forest, 7
(1946), 54.
M. Le Compte C. N. — e— C
... D ----- ,, ‘------------------
—.ardi A Short Description
. of the Natives of the
Niger Coast Protectorate *«»’, in Vinrwlmr
Kingsley, West African Afrirnti ^turller nnn/»nHiv ii,
Studies, appendix
p. 443.
Chamberlain, M. E., ‘Lord Aberdare and the Royal Niger Company’, Th~
Welsh History Review, 3 (1966—7), 45.
176 SOURCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
Checkland, S. G., ‘Economic Attitudes in Liverpool 1793-1807’, Economic
History Review, Second Series, vol. 5, no. 1 (1952), p. 58.
Chilver, E. M., ‘Nineteenth Century Trade in the Bamenda Grassfields,
Southern Cameroons’, Afrika und Ubersee, Band 45, p. 233.
Coulthurst, C. H., ‘Expedition to Old Calabar, etc.’, Journal of the Royal
Geographical Society, 2 (1832), 305.
Cowan, Alex A., ‘Early Trading Conditions in the Bight of Biafra, Part 1’,
Journal of the African Society, 34 (1935), 391.
----- ‘Early Trading Conditions in the Bight of Biafra, Part II’, Journal of the
African Society, 35 (1936), 53.
Cozens, A. B., ‘A Village Smithy in the Cameroons’, Nigerian Field, 20 (Jan.
1955), 25.
Curtin, Phillip D., and Vansina, Jan., ‘Sources of the Nineteenth
Century Atlantic Slave Trade’, Journal of African History, vol. 5, no. 2 (1964),
p. 185.
Curzon, H. H., and Thornton, R. W., ‘A Contribution to the Study of
African Native Cattle’. Oonderstepoorte Journal of Veterinary Service, vol. 7,
no. 2 (Oct. 1936), p. 51.
Dayrell, Elphinstone,‘Further Notes on Nsibidi Signs, with their mean­
ings, from the Ikom District, S. Nigeria’, Journal of the Royal Anthropological
Institute, 41 (1911), 521.
Dennet, R. E., ‘Agricultural Progress in Nigeria’, African Affairs, Journal of
the African Society, 18 (July 1919), 280.
Dike, K. O., ‘John Beecroft 1790-1854. Her Britannic Majesty’s Consul to the
Bights of Benin and Biafra’. Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria, 1
(Dec. 1956), 15.
Duke, A., ‘The Diary of Antera Duke’, in Forde, Efik Traders, pp. 27, 79.
Ekandem, M. J., ‘Ibibio Farmers and some of their Customs’, Nigerian Field,
22 (Oct. 1957), 169.
Ema, A. J. Udo, ‘The Ekpe Society’, Nigeria 16 (1938), 314.
Fyfe, C., ‘Peter Nicholls - Old Calabar and Freetown’, Journal of the Historical
Society ofNigeria, vol. 2, no. 1 (Dec. 1960), p. 105.
Gaskin, E. A. L., ‘Twelve Proverbs and One Folk Story from the Efik Country’,
Africa, 5 (1935), 69.
Gavin, R. jm ‘Nigeria and Lord Palmerston’, Ibadan, 12 (June 1961), 24.
Gertzel, C., ‘Relations between African and European Traders in the Niger
Delta, 1880-1896*, Journal of African History, vol. 3, no. 2 (1962), p. 361.
^(1952) G' ‘Breeds of Cattle found in Nigeria’, Farm and Forest, no. 11

Gore, More, ‘The Oil Palm’, Nigerian Field, 1 (Dec. 1931), 21.
Grey, R. F. A., ‘Manillas’, Nigerian Field, 16 (Apr. 1951), 52.
Harding, H. J. m., ‘A Short History of the Bamenda Cross River Calabar
Scheme up to May 1949’, Farm and Forest, 2 (1952), 44.
Harford, John, Part I and II ‘A Voyage to the African Oil Rivers Twenty-Five
years ago’. Kingsley, West African Studies, appendix II, pp. 567, 583.
Hopkins, A. G., ‘Economic Imperialism in West Africa, Lagos, 1880-1892’,
Economic History Review, 2nd Ser., vol. 21, no. 3 (Dec. 1968), p. 586.
Horton, Robin, ‘From Fishing Village to City State’, in Douglas and Kaberry
Man in Africa, P. 37.
.°E’ Francis E., Parkinson, Bradbury B., Marrinbr, Shiela
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Remw, 2nd Ser. 5 (1952-3), 368.
 SOURCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY 177
Jeffreys, M. D. W., ‘Cross River Prawn and Shrimp Fishing’, Nigerian
Field, 17 (July 1952), 135.
----- ‘Alt-Kalabar und der Sklavcnhandel’, Paideuma, Band VI (Nov. 1954),
Heft 1, (Frankfurt-am-Main).
----- ‘Primitive Hoes’, Nigerian Field, 20 (Jan. 1955), 39.
----- ‘Fort Stuart: A Lost Site’, Nigerian Field, 20 (Apr. 1955), 89.
----- ‘A Forgotten Canal’, Nigerian Field, 20 (July 1955), 137.
----- ‘A Note on Onoyom lya Nya Ita’, Nigerian Field, 21 (Jan. 1956), 41.
----- ‘Palm Wine among the I bibios’, Nigerian Field, 22 (Jan. 1957), 40.
----- ‘Cordage among the Ibo’, Nigerian Field, 25 (Jan. 1960), 42.
----- ‘Some West African Meteorites’, Nigerian Field, 26 (Jan. 1961), 13.
----- ‘Oku Blacksmiths’, Nigerian Field, 26 (July 1961), 137.
Johnson, Marion, ‘The Ounce in Eighteenth-Century West African Trade’,
Journal of African History, vol. 7, no. 2- (1966), pp. 197-214.
Jones, G. I., ‘Who are the Aro?’, Nigerian Field, 7 (July 1939), 100-3.
----- ‘Native and Trade Currencies in Southern Nigeria during the Eighteenth and
Nineteenth Centuries’, Africa, vol. 28, no. 1 (Jan. 1958), p. 43.
----- ‘Time and Oral Tradition with Special Reference to Eastern Nigeria*,
Journal of African History, vol. 6, no. 2 (1965), p. 153.
----- ‘The Political Organisation of Old Calabar’, in Forde, Efik Traders, p. 116.
Langhans, P., ‘Vcrgesscne Reisen in Kamcrun.l. Rciscn des Missionars
Alexander Ross, von Alt-Kalabar nach Efut 1877 und 1878’, Petermanns
Geographische Mitteilungen, 48 (1902).
Oldfield, R. K., ‘Ascent of Old Calabar River in 1836’, Journal of the Royal
Geographical Society, 7 (1837), 195.
Oliver, Bep, ‘Nigeria’s Useful Plants’:
Part 1, Nigerian Field, 23 (Oct. 1958), 147.
Part 2 (I), Nigerian Field, 24 (Jan. 1959), 13.
Part 2 (II), Nigerian Field, 24 (Apr. 1959), 54.
Part 2 (III), Nigerian Field, 24 (July 1959), 121.
Part 2 (IV), Nigerian Field, 24 (Oct. 1959), 160.
Part 3, Nigerian Field, 25 (Oct. 1960), 174.
Part 4, Nigerian Field, 26 (Apr. 1961), 70.
Part 5, Nigerian Field, 26 (Oct. 1961), 171.
Parkinson, John, ‘A Note on the Efik and Ekoi Tribes of the Eastern Pro­
vinces of Southern Nigeria’, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute,
37 (1907), 261.
Payne, Mrs. Phillipa, ‘Calabar Coronation’, Nigerian Field, 19 (Apr. 1954),
85.
Polyani, Karl, ‘Sortings and “Ounce Trade” in the West African Slave Trade’,
Journal of African History, vol. 5, no. 3 (1964), p. 381.
Platt, D. C. M., ‘The Role of the British Consular Service in Overseas Trade,
1825-1914’, Economic History Review, 2nd Ser., vol. 15, no. 3 (1962—3), p. 494.
----- ‘Economic Factors in British Policy during the “New Imperialism” ’, Past
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Ross, S. D., ‘Nigerian Cattle Types’, Farm and Forest, 5 (1944), 2.
Ruel, M. J., ‘The Modern Adaptation of Associations among the Banyang of
the West Cameroon’, Southwestern Journal of Anthropology, vol. 20, no. 1
(1964), p.l.
Sheridan, R. B., ‘The Commercial and Financial Organisation of the British
Slave Trade, 1750-1807’, Economic History Review, 2nd Ser., vol. 11, no.2
(1958), p. 249.
178 SOURCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
Simmons, Donald, ‘Fort Stuart Calabar: a further note’, Nigerian Field, 20
(July 1955), 139.
‘Efik Knots’, Nigerian Field, 21 (July 1956), 127.
‘Efik Riddles’, Nigerian Field, 21 (Oct. 1956), 168.
‘Notes on the Aro’, Nigerian Field, 23 (Jan. 1958), 27.
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----- ‘An Ethnographic Sketch and Notes’ in Forde, Efik Traders, p. 1.
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‘How to Tap a Raphia Palm’, Nigerian Field, 30 (July 1965), 120.
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——— ‘Sketches on the Western Coast of Africa’, Illustrated London News,
22 June 1850, p. 436.

JOURNALS AND NEWSPAPERS

The African Tinies. Journal of the African Aid Society, 1862-.
The Comet. Weekly News Magazine of West Africa. Ibadan Newspapers No. .
Nigerian Eastern Mail. The Journal for the Eastern Provinces. The Voice o e
East. Ibadan Newspapers No. 23.
United Presbyterian Church Missionary Record. Edinburgh, 1847-.
The Economist. London, 1844-.
The African Mail. Liverpool, 1907-1917.
The West African Mail. Liverpool, 1903-1907.
West Africa. London, 1917—.
West Africa and Traders Review. London, 1900-1907.
 Index
Names of Efik persons are to be found under Efik persons.

Abakaliki, 5 Anti-Slavery Treaties, 22,134

Abuncko, 36, see Ebunko Anyim River, 1
Accramen, 107,108, see also Liberated Archibong-Dukc war, 1885, 142
Africans Archibong Ekundo, from Usak Edct,
Acting Consul Easton, crowns King 36
Duke Eyamba IX, 129 Archibong ward, 10 Chart 1, 37 Chart
Acting Consul Lynslager, I. W. B., 4, 44 Chart 5, 92, 93, 114 Chart 8,
destroys Old Town, 136 117, 129,132,133,156, 164
Acting Consul White, H. G., adjudi­ Ardcncr, Edwin, writer, 17
cates Dukc-Archibong war 1885, Arithmetic, 107
bans import of arms, 132,142 Aroclan,3,26,27,28
Acting Consul Wilson, fines King Asia, 147
Archibongll, 137 Atakpa, 10,88, see Duke Town
Action Group, 150 Axes, 25,76
Adams, Capt. John, writer, 19, 55, 57, Ayandelc, E. A., writer, v
71,73,75,79
Afikpo, 5,7,75,86 Badglcy, James, R.N., 23
African Association, 64,65,111 Bakasi, 28
African Times, Free Trade at Calabar, Bamcnda grassfields, 29
82; campaign for Prince Eyamba as Banana, 1,3
King, 130; letters press annexation, Bankruptcy, 28,40
139 Baptism, 103,104
Agents, 59, 63, 64, 65, 72, 80, 83, 110, Barbadoes, 17
111,125,137,144 Barbot, John, writer, 7, 23, 24, 49, 50,
Agnatic descent, 31, 34 51
Agreed produce division, 65 Barwood, 23,73
Ajayi, J. F. A., writer, v, 130 fn Beecroft, John, 58,134, see also Consul
Akankpa, 27 Beecroft
Akinjogbin, I. A., writer, v Belgian muskets and matchets, 74
Akpabuyo, 48,51,86,91,92,93,117 Benin, 67,139
Akunakuna tribe, 5,29,120 Benue River, 29
Alagoa, E. J., writer, v Bible studies, 107
Albinos, 35 Bight of Biafra, 17,18,22,23
Alligars, Indian cloth, 74. Birmingham, 74
Ambo ward, 10 Chart 1, 32, 33, 37 Black coppers, see copper wires,
Chart 4,45,46,114 Chart 8,128,158 obnbit oku, and currency
Amsterdam, 58,63 Black Country, 74
Anderson, Revd. William, missionary, Black Davis House Book, 88, 100, see
vii, 96,118,130 also Black Davis Papers
Anglo-Efik relations, 134-45 Black Davis Papers, vii, see also Black
Anglo-French wars, 18 Davis House Book
N
180 INDEX
Blacksmiths, 7,25,76,78,108 Calabar, re-named from Old Calabar,
Blood oath, 93,95,121 149
Bold, Edward, writer, 48, 50, 56, 71, Calabar-Ogoja-Rivers (COR) State
73,75,76,79,86,88 Movement, 150
Bold, Jonas, slave trader and palm oil Callao, T. J. Hutchinson Consul at, 62
trader, 56 Cameroons, 1, 5, 7, 28, 29, 36, 55, 66,
Bonny, 11, 20,21,26, 28, 34,66, 67, 73 85,88,89,139,140,141
Bonny-Opobo war, 125,138 Canals, 74
Boostam, 26,28, sec Umon. Candles, 68
Bosun, sec Umon Cannibalism, 26, 50
Bows and arrows, 24 Canoes, 5, 7, 26, 31, 33, 34, 46, 49, 82,
Bow-wrights, 25 85
Bradbury, R. E., writer, etc., vii Canoe boys, 32,33,96,99,146
Brandy, 75 Canoe-house, as at Bonny and New
Branfill, Capt. Andrew, slave trader, Calabar, 34
18 Cape Coasters, 106, 107, see liberated
Brass basins, 25, see neptunes Africans
Brass leglets, 76 Capital, 59,65,79
Brass rods, 78, 82, 125, sec copper Capital costs, 59
rods, okuk, currency Capitalism, 28
Brassy, 28, sec Bakasi Capitalist institutions, 28-9
Bribery, 62 Captains, 17,18, 20 Table 1, 27,42, 55,
Bristol, 18,22 55 fn, 56 fn, 60,93,110
Britain, 20,59,62,63,64,65,66,68,69, Captain Thomas, of Tom Shotts, 50
71, 72, 134, 135, 136, 137, 140, 141, Carpenters, 76,106,107,108
142,143,144,145 Carribean, 18
British, vi, 20, 21, 43, 49, 55, 67, 74, Carridaries, Indian cloth, 74
109, 117, 129, 130,131, 133,134, 137, Case, George, slave trader and palm oil
144 trader, 56
British annexation, 131-2, 133, 134, Cask-house, 59,63,108,109,110
139,147,148 Cassava, 1
British Cabinet, 140 Cattle, 5
British Exchequer, 141,145 Ceremonial breakfasts, 72
British Fleet, 21,22,92 Ceremonial costumes, 25,37,75
British Government, 139,141,143 Chectham, supercargo, 62
British intervention, 141,142,145 Cheshire, 74
British protected people, 102,103,104, Chief priest, sec Oku Ndem
109, 111 Chief Akpan Ekpcne, Ibibio, 88
British Protection, 105, 106, 107, 108, Christian converts, 122
109, 111, 126, 129, 130,132,135,138, Christianity, 103,124,126,130
139,140,141,142,144,145,147 Church Missionary Society, C.M.S.,
British rule, v, 83, 90, 112, 133, 139, 106
143,148 Civil war, 20
British subjects, 61, 80, 106, 108, 136, Clerks, 108
138,139,147 Clockmakers, 107
British trade, 134, 140, 141, 142, 144, Cloth, 24,25,73,74, 79, sec textiles
145 Clothes, gaudy, 24
British traders, 80, 112, 136, 140, 141, Cloth manufacture, 25
142 Clyde, 75
British and Continental African Co, Cobham Town, 131
trading company, 65 Cobham ward, 10 Chart 1, 33, 35, 43,
Butcher, 108 92, 114 Chart 8, 128, 133, 142, 157,
Buyers rings, sec price rings 158
 INDEX 181
Cocoa, 127 Consular Administration, 111, 140,
Combination, Efik, 71 143
Combination, palm oil traders, 65 Consulate, at Old Calabar, 110
Comcy, 20,48,50,72,84,115,116,122, Consul General, 133,145
124,144, sec also port dues Coopers, 107
Company of African Merchants, trad­ Cook-steward, 108
ingcompany, 63 Copper, 24,25
Competition between palm oil traders, Copper rods, currency, 23, 25, 29, 69,
56,57,58,59,63,64,65,144,147 73, 76, 77 Table 5; value of, 78, 79,
Compound groups, 12, 31, 33, 34, 40, 82, 94,100, 119; sec also brass rods,
51 okuk
Consul, 61, 71, 72, 80, 103, 107, 112, Copper rods, depreciation of, 23, 72,
124,125,126,127,129,132,134,135, 76-9
136, 137-8,139,142,144,145,147 Copper wires, currency, 76, 78, 78
Consul Anncsley, prohibits Ekpc, 133 Table 6; value of, 79; sec also black
Consul Beecroft, John, makes trade coppers, obubit oku
treaty 1852, 80, 81; made Consul, Cost schedule, 59
134-5; intervenes in 1851 crisis, 135; Council, sec village council
see also Bcccroft, John Couper Scott & Co, trading company,
Consul Burton, Richard, makes trade 84 fn
treaty 1862, 80, 137; fails to open Court of Equity, 108,137,138
Cross River, 81-2 Credit, 27,28,29,30,37,38, 39,51,60,
Consul Hartley, re-opens kernel trade, 79, 80, 81, 84, 85, 86, 120, 146, sec
64; receives King Archibong’s com­ trust
plaints about emancipadoes, 104 Credit-worthiness, 24,39,51,79, 134
Consul Hewett, Edward Hyde, 89; asks Creek Town, 9, 12, 13, 27, 33, 35, 36,
Chiefs to elect King, 129,131; nego­ 37 Chart 4,47,49, 58, 59, 82, 88, 89,
tiates protection treaty, 132; inter­ 95, 96, 100, 106, 115, 116, 119, 120,
venes in chaos, 1886, 133; advocates 121, 122, 123, 125, 127,128, 143, sec
annexation, 139; urges protection, Ikot Itunko
ordered to conclude treaties, 140; Cross River, 1, 3, 5, 7,9,10, 17,23,26,
makes treaties, 141; supports total 28, 29, 39, 42, 49, 75, 79, 83, 86, 90,
annexation, 142, 143 92,127,134,137,146,149
Consul Hopkins, complains of liberated Cross River Basin, economy of, 5-8, 6
Africans, 108; negotiates settlement Map 4
between Henshaw Town and Duke Cross River Basin, geography of, 1-3,
Town, and also treaty abolishing xiv Map 1
human sacrifice, 1878, 126, 139 Cross River Basin, people of, 3-4, 4
Consul Hutchinson, T. J., translated Map 3
after bribery enquiry, 62; grants Cross River estuary, 3,7,9,36,50
emancipation papers, 104; receives Crown Colony, 143
King Duke’s complaints about Curcock, 32, see Ikot Ofliong
liberated Africans, 106; deports two Currency, domestic, see copper rods
Sierra Leoneans, 107; unsuccessful and copper wires
attempt to set up Court of Equity, Curtin, P. D., writer, 18,23
137 Curtin, P. D. and Vansina, Jan, writers,
Consul Livingstone, Charles, 59,72,76; 29
complains of liberated Africans, 107; Cuthbertson, Capt., supercargo, 60
transfers Consulate to Old Calabar, Customs duties, 56,84,143, see tariffs
110; intervenes in dispute over King
Henshaw, 125; seeks forward policy Daaku, K. Y., writer, v
on Cross River, fines King Archi- Dash, 24,72
bong, 137; recalled 138 Davies, Capt., supercargo, 60
182 INDEX
Debasement of copper rod, 78 Efik great trading slaves, 84, 96-102,
Debt collecting, 28, 38, 59-60, 79, 80, 105,111,115,120,121
115,118,121 Efik house or ward, 31, 33, 34, sec ufok
Debts, 28-9, 37, 38, 51, 60, 61, 62, 79, and Efik wards
80, 81, 82, 84, 85, 115, 121, 122, 134, Efik inheritance customs, 99
144 Efik Kings, sec Efik persons
Depression, in the eighties, 69, in the Efik language, 12
sixties, 72 Efik markets, 5,120,126,137
Destraint, 28,38 Efik monopoly, Cross River, 48,49,51,
Dike, K. O., writer, v, vi, 31,59,62,94, 81-4,90,115,134
135 Efik oligarchy, 83,84,85,105, 111
Dirty oil, 65 Efik oral tradition, vi, vii, 9, 10, 36,91
Drums, Ekpe, 38 Efik palm oil traders, 59, 60, 85,88,89
Dutch, 18,20
Duke-Archibong war, 1884-5,96,132— Efik persons:
133 Adam Archibong, see Edem Archibong
Duke Town, 10,12, 35, 37 Chart 4,44, Adam Duke, 98 Chart 6,155 Appendix
45, 47, 48, 49, 59, 61, 81, 82, 88, 89, 3
91,93,94,95,96, 100, 103, 104, 106, Adam Ironbar, 101 Chart 7, 102, 164
107,118,119,121,122,124, 125,126, Appendix 4
128,130,136, 138,139 Adam John Eyamba, see Eyamba XII,
Duke ward, 10 Chart 1, 33, 34, 37 37 Chart 4,116 Chart 9
Chart 4, 44, 44 Chart 5, 45, 51, 92, Adam Oku, 154 Appendix 3
93, 94, 96, 97, 99, 113, 114, 114 Adim Atai, 9,10 Chart 1,11
jli>, izu, ixj,
Chart 8,115,117,118,119,120,123, Aduk Ephraim Duke, 162 Appendix 4
124,125,127,129,130, 131,132,133,
122, 222, —, A. Eyamba, 162 Appendix 4
154,155,156,163,164 Akabom Oso, 11 Chart 2
Antera Duke Diarist, 18, 26, 28,32,46,
Earthenware, 75 47, 50,55
Ebeo, 28, see Iboland Antera Duke, 98 Chart 6, 154 Appen­
Ebongo, King of, 47, see Ebiinko dix 3
Ebony,73 Antera Young, see Ntiero Ekpenyong
Ebrcros, 49-50 Ofiong Okoho
Ebunko, 36,39,45,47,116 Antica Ambo, 60, 98 Chart 6, 158
Ebunko-ship, 45,47,113 Appendix 3
Economic Imperialism, 141 Apande Duke, 154 Appendix 3
Edibo, 39 Archibong, see Archibong Duke
Edidem, 42-3 Archibong Duke, sec Archibong, and
Education, 103,106,107 King Archibong 1.44 Chart 5,93,94,
E. E. Offiong’s Judgement Book, 99 99, 101, 117, 118, 119,120,135,136,
Eericock, 28, see Ikot Offiong 154 Appendix 3
Ecricock Boatswain, 28, see Umon, Archibong Edem, see Prince Archibong
Bosun III, 101 Chart 7, 129, 130, 131,132,
Effiat tribe, 3 144,164 Appendix 4
Efik economy, 13,29,42,43,44 Archibong Ekpo, 44 Chart 5
Efik founding fathers, 9, 31, 32, 34, 36 Archibong Henshaw Duke, 162 Ap­
Efik freemen, 32, 33, 34, 35, 39, 40, 84, pendix 4
85, 94, 95, 96-7, 99, 102, 105, 115, Asibon Akabom, 11 Chart 2
117,119,126,146 Asibon Eso, sec Willy Tom Robinsand
Efik genealogies, 10 Chart 1,10-11,44 Chief Willy Tom Robins 11, 11
Chart 5,46. Chart 2,136
Efik Gentlemen, 85, 93, 96, 97, 101, Atai Ema, 10 Chart 1
102,107,111,118 Aye Eyo, see John Eyo and King Eyo
 INDEX 183
V, 98 Chart 6,117 Chart 10,122,128, King Eyamba V. 37 Chart 4, 44
159 Appendix 3 Chart 5,80,81,88, 99, 104,115, 116,
Basi Duke Antario, 154 Appendix 3 116 Chart 9 and Source, 117, 121,
Bassey Africa, 98 Chart 6, 99, 157 123,129,134,154 Appendix 3
Appendix 3 Edem Ekpo, 12,12 Chart 3,44 Chart 5,
Bassey Henshaw, see Basscy Henshaw 46
Duke Edem Ephraim Adam, 162 Appendix 4
Bassey Henshaw Duke, sec Basscy Edem Odo, see Ededem
Henshaw, 84, 98 Chart 6, 99, 120, Efefiom John Eyamba, see Eyamba
121,156 Appendix 3 XIII, 37 Chart 4,116 Chart 9
Basscy Offiong, 98 Chart 6, 157 Ap­ Efla John Eyamba, see Eyamba XIV',
pendix 3 37 Chart 4,116 Chart 9
Big Adam Duke, 100, 162 Appendix 4 Effiong Efiwatt, 101 Chart 7, 165
Black Davis, 59, 84, 85, 88, 98 Chart Appendix 4
6,99,100,121,155 Appendix 3 Effiong Muneshu, 154 Appendix 3
Boco Cobham, 154 Appendix 3 Effiong Otu, 162 Appendix 4
Boco Duke, 100 Efiok Eyo, see Eyo Honesty (?),
Bo dar Nar, 154 Appendix 3 Father Tom, Tom Eyo and King Eyo
Captain Duke, 154 Appendix 3 IV. 88 (7), 98 Chart 6, 115,116,117
Chief Willy Tom Robins, see Asibon Chart 9, 122, 128,159 Appendix 3
Eso Efiom Edem, see Duke Ephraim, Duke
Chief Henshaw III, see James Hen­ Ephraim Eyambo, Great Duke Eph­
shaw raim and Eyamba IV, 21, 21 fn, 22,
Chief James Henshaw, see James Hen­ 27, 37 Chart 4,44 Chart 5,47-8, 50,
shaw 51,74, 79, 80, 81, 84, 86, 91, 92, 93,
Coco Basscy, 83 95, 96, 97, 99, 111, 115, 116, 116
Coco Henshaw Duke, 154 Appendix 3 Chart 9 and Source, 117,128,134
Coco Otu Basscy, 102 Efiom Edem Ekpenyong, sec Eyamba
David King, 154 Appendix 3 VII, 37 Chart 4,116 Chart 9,121
Dick Ebro’, 32,49 Efiom Ekpo, 9, 10 Chart 1, 12, 12
Dick Ebrow, 50 Chart 3,34,44,44 Chart 5
Doctor Eyo, see Ibok Eyo Efiom John Eyamba, see Eyamba XI
Duke Ephraim, see Ededem 37 Chart 4,116 Chart 9
Duke Ephraim, see Efiom Edem Efiom Okoho, 10 Chart 1,12 Chart 3,
Duke Ephraim Eyambo, sec Efiom 44 Chart 5,97
Edem Efiom Otu Ekon, 11 Chart 2
Ededem, see Edem Odo, Duke Eph­ Efiong Ludianah, 98 Chart 6, 160
raim, and King Duke Ephraim. 44 Appendix 3
Chart 5, 61, 97, 98 Chart 6, 99, 106, Egbo Bassey (1), 104,105 fn, 107
117,119, 120, 128, 129, 133,136, 154 Egbo Basscy (2), 154 Appendix 3
Appendix 3 Egbo Bo, 154 Appendix 3
Edem Archibong, see Adam Archibong, Egbo Boyok, 154 Appendix 3
Eyamba VIII, and King Archibong Egbo Etam Henshaw, 100
III. 37 Chart 4,44 Chart 5,62,85,98 Egbo Eyo, 95,122,154 Appendix 3
Chart 6, 101 Chart 7, 104, 105, 107, Egbo Jack, 98 Chart 6,158 Appendix 3
108,121,123,124,125,126,127,128, Egbo Jemmy, 154 Appendix 3
129, 138, 139, 145, 156 Appendix 3, Egbo King Archibong, 162 Appendix 4
164 Appendix 4 Egbo King Archibongll, 162 Appendix
Edem Efiom, 10,10 Chart 1,12 Chart 3 4
Edem Ekpenyong, see Edem Ekpen­ Egbo Tom, 98 Chart 6,160 Appendix 3
yong Ofiong Okoho. Egbo Young (brother of Antcra Duke,
Edem Ekpenyong Ofiong Okoho, see diarist), 26
Edem Ekpenyong, Eyamba V, and Egbo Young Etam, 162 Appendix 4
184 INDEX
Egbo Young Etim, 154 Appendix 3 Eyamba IV, sec Efiom Edem
Egbo Young Eyambo, see Ekpenyong Eyamba V, sec Edem Ekpenyong
Ofiong Okoho Ofiong Okoho
Egbo Young Hogan, 98 Chart 6, 100, Eyamba VI, see Nteiro Ekpenyong
160 Appendix 3 Ofiong Okoho
Egbo Young Ofiong, see Ekpenyong Eyamba VII, see Efiom Edem Ekpen­
Ofiong Okoho. yong
Eke Eso, 100 Eyamba VIII, see Edem Archibong
Ekpenyong Ekpe Oku, see Eyamba II, Eyamba IX, see Orok Edem
37 Chart 4,45 Eyamba X, see James Eyamba
Ekpenyong Ekpo, 154 Appendix 3 Eyamba XI, see Efiom John Eyamba
Ekpenyong Etim, 154 Appendix 3 Eyamba XII, see Adam John Eyamba
Ekpenyong Etim Asiya, 11 Chart 2 Eyamba XIII, see Efefiom John
Ekpenyong Ofiong, see Ekpenyong Eyamba
Ofiong Okoho Eyamba XIV, see Effa John Eyamba
Ekpenyong Ofiong Okoho, see Ekpen­ Eyo Archibong, see John Archibong
yong Ofiong, Egbo Young Ofiong and King Archibong II, 44 Chart
Egbo Young Eyambo, and Eyamba 5, 62, 72, 95, 98 Chart 6, 101, 120,
III, 12, 12 Chart 3, 36, 37 Chart 4, 121, 123, 124, 127, 137, 156 Appen­
44 Chart 5, 45, 46, 47, 48, 114-5, dix 3
116 Chart 9 Eyo Ebrow, 50
Ekpo Efiom, 12 Chart 3,44 Chart 5 Eyo Ema, 9,10 Chart 1,13
Ekpo Nsa, 12 Chart 3,44,44 Chart 5 Eyo E. Ndem, 101 Chart 7, 165 Ap­
Ema, 9,10 Chart 1. pendix 4
Ene Black Davis, 162 Appendix 4 Eyo Ete, see King Eyo III, and Young
Enni Cobham, 98 Chart 6, 157 Ap­ Eyo. 95, 117 Chart 10,122,127,128,
pendix 3 154 Appendix 3
Ephraim Adam, 100,154 Appendix 3 Eyo Eyo, see Eyo Eyo Inyang, Eyo
Ephraim Antera, 154 Appendix 3 Honesty II, and King Eyo II, 47,59,
Ephraim Boco Duke, 154 Appendix 3 60,61,65,85, 88,95,98 Chart 6,106,
Ephraim Duke, 98 Chart 6, 155 Ap­ 115,116,117,117 Chart 10,119,120,
pendix 3 121,122,128,136,159 Appendix 3
Ephraim Etim Duke, 154 Appendix 3 Eyo Eyo Inyang, see Eyo Eyo
Ephraim Eyo Duke, 162 Appendix 4 Eyo Honesty, see Efiok Eyo (?)
Ephraim Henshaw Duke, 98 Chart 6, Eyo Honesty I, sec Eyo Nsa
160 Appendix 3 Eyo Honesty II, see Eyo Eyo
Ephraim Lewis, 100,162 Appendix 4 Eyo Ita, 162 Appendix 4
Ephraim Nacunda, 154 Appendix 3 Eyo Nsa, see Eyo Honesty I, King Eyo
Ephraim Robin John, see Efiom Otu I, Willy Honesty, 32, 33 , 34, 36, 39,
Ekon 40. 45, 46, 47, 48, 50, 97, 115, 117
Eshien Etem Bassey Offiong, 162 ChartlO, 123,127,128
Appendix 4 Eyo Okon, 122,127,128
Esien Ambo, 154 Appendix 3 Father Tom, sec Efiok Eyo
Esien Ekpc Oku, see Eyamba I, 36, 37 George Duke, 95, 98 Chart 6, 99,100,
Chart 4,39,45,46 101 Chart 7, 102,105,156 Appendix
Esicn Esien Ukpabio, 123 3,163 Appendix 4
Eso Asibon, 11,11 Chart 2 Great Duke Ephraim, see Efiom Edem
Etim Effiong Duke, 154 Appendix 3 Grandy King George, 36
Etim Effiong Esien, 154 Appendix 3 Henshaw Duke, (1), 94,98 Chart 6,154
Eyamba I, see Esien Ekpc Oku Appendix 3
Eyamba II, sec Ekpenyong Ekpe Oku Henshaw Duke, (2), 98 Chart 6, 101
Eyamba III, see Ekpenyong Ofiong Chart 7, 154 Appendix 3, 163
C .oho Appendix 4
 INDEX 185
Henshaw Toby, 101 Chart 7, 165 King Ebrero, 49
Appendix 4 King Eyamba V, sec Edem Ekpenyong
Henshaw Tom Foster, sec Nsa Okoho Ofiong Okoho
Hogan Archibong, 162 Appendix 4 King Eyo I, see Eyo Nsa
Hogan Bassey, 98 Chart 6, 158 Ap­ King Eyo II, see Eyo Eyo
pendix 3 King Eyo III, see Eyo Etc
Hogan Ironbar, 101 Chart 7, 102, 163 King Eyo IV, see Efiok Eyo
Appendix 4 King Eyo V, see Aye Eyo
Ibok Eyo, see Doctor Eyo and King King Eyo VI, see Ibok Eyo
Eyo VI, 95, 98 Chart 6, 100, 117 King Eyo VII, see Nsa Okoho
Chart 10, 122-3, 127, 128, 159 King Henshaw III, sec James Henshaw
Appendix 3 King Prince Duke Ephraim Eyamba
Inyang Eyo, 122 IX, see Orok Edem
Iron Bar, 97,102 King War, 98 Chart 6, 161 Appendix
James Egbo Basscy, 105,139 3
James Ephraim Adam, 101 Chart 7, Little Capt Duke, 154 Appendix 3
164 Appendix4 ---- «/■--» a
Lord Archibong, --------
162 a
Appendix 4
James Eyamba, see Prince James Mr Young, 98 Chart 6, 117, 118, 119,
Eyamba, Prince James Eyamba V 156 Appendix 3
and Eyamba X, 37 Chart 4, 101 N. B. Henshaw, 65 fn
Chart 7, 116 Chart 9, 123, 124, 125, Nksc Etim Duke, 154 Appendix 3
128-9,130,131,144,165 Appendix 4 Nsa Efiom, 9, 10 Chart 1,12 Chart 3,
James Henshaw, see Chief James Hen­ 44,44 Chart 5
shaw, Chief Henshaw III, Jemmy Nsa Okoho, see Henshaw Tom Foster,
Henshaw (?), King Henshaw III and and King Eyo VII, 89, 117 Chart 10,
Obong Henshaw, 43, 43 fn, 98 125,127-8,132,143
Chart 6 (?), 124, 125, 126, 127, 144, Ntiero Ekpenyong Ofiong Okoho, see
154 Appendix 3 (?) Eyamba VI, 37 Chart 4, 98 Chart 6,
Jemmy Henshaw, see James Henshaw 116 Chart 9, 119, 120, 121, 157
(?) Appendix 3
John Anderson, 162 Appendix 4 Obong Henshaw, see James Henshaw
John Archibong, sec Eyo Archibong Obuma, 94
John Boco Cobham, 154 Appendix 3 Offiong Archibong, 154 Appendix 3
John Duke, (1), 93,94 Offiong ElTco Iwat, 100
John Duke (2), 98 Chart 6, 161 Ap­ Ofliong Effiono Imah, 162 Appendix 4
pendix 3 Offiong Enian, 100
John Ephraim, 98 Chart 6, 161 Ap­ Ofiong Okoho, 10 Chart 1,12 Chart 3,
pendix 3 44 Chart 5,45,97
John Eyo, see Aye Eyo Okoho (Efiom) 9, 10, 10 Chart 1, 12
Joseph Eyamba, 101 Chart 7, 165 Chart 3,44 Chart 5
Appendix 4 Okoho (Eyo) 117 Chart 10,128
Joseph George Duke, 162 Appendix 4 Okon Ma, 105
Joseph Henshaw, 89,126,127 Oku Atai, 9,10 Chart 1,33,36
King Archibong I, sec Archibong Duke Old George, 154 Appendix 3
King Archibong II, see Eyo Archibong Optcr Antcra, 26
King Archibong III, see Edem Archi­ Orok Edem, see King Duke Eyamba
bong IX, King Prince Duke Ephraim
King Calabar, 35,42, sec Oku Ndem Eyamba IX, Prince Duke, and
King Cameroons, 98 Chart 6, 158 Eyamba IX, 37 Chart 4, 44 Chart 5,
Appendix 3 101 Chart 7, 102, 105, 116 Chart 9
King Duke Ephraim, see Ededem and Source, 125, 129, 130, 131, 132,
King Duke, sec Orok Edem 133, 139, 142, 144, 145, 163 Appen­
King Duke Eyamba IX, see Orok Edem dix 4 4C*
186 INDEX
OsoUkpong.il Chart! King Eyo II, 115-17; succession dis­
Otto Ephraim, 35 pute on death of Eyamba V, 117;
P. Ejro Eyamba, 162 Appendix 4 accession of Archibong 1,117; slaves
Peter King Camcroons, 105,130 prevent Mr Young becoming Eyam­
Prince Archibong II, 100, 101 Chart 7, ba, 118; succession dispute on death
164 Appendix 4 of Archibong I, 119; accession of
Prince Archibong III, see Archibong King Duke Ephraim and Antera
Edem Duke as Eyamba VI, 119; King
Prince Egbo Archibong, 162 Appendix Eyo’s decline, 119-20; accession of
4 Archibong II, 120-1; power of great
Prince Duke, see Orok Edem slaves, 121; deterioration of Creek
Prince James Eyamba, sec James Town, 121-3; accession of Archibong
Eyamba III both Obong and Eyamba, 123;
Prince James Eyamba V, see James Henshaws seek independence, 124-7;
Eyamba Creek Towns political crisis, 127-8;
Prince Samuel Eyamba, 162 Appendix Duke Towns political crisis and sue
4 cession dispute, 128-31; Eyambas
Prince Thomas Eyamba, 104,108 seek British annexation, 131-2; estab­
Thomas Hogan, 98 Chart 6, 160 lishment of British Protection, 132;
Appendix 3 establishment of British control, 133;
Toby (-?-), 100 trade basis of Anglo-Efik relations,
Tobby Tom, 98 Chart 6,160 Appendix 134; appointment of Consul, 134-5;
3 Consuls functions, 135; destruction
Tom Eyo, sec Efiok Eyo of Old Town, 136 ; Consul powerless
Tom Offiong, 98 Chart 6,160 Appendix in supercargoes v liberated Africans,
3 136; attempt to open Cross River
Ukpong Atai, 9, 10 Chart 1, 11, 11 fails, 137; Magisterial power con­
Chart 2 ferred on Consul, 138; increasing
William Duke, 154 Appendix 3 claims for British Protection, 138-9;
Willy Honesty, see Eyo Nsa Eyambas demand British annexation,
Willy Tom Robins, (1), see Eso Asibon 139; British reasons for establishing
Willy Tom Robins, (2), sec Asibon Eso Protection, 139-40; bungling of Pro­
Yellow Duke, 84, 88, 89, 98 Chart 6, tection Treaties, 140-1; motivations
99, 100, 101, 101 Chart 7, 102, 121, for Protection, 141-2; failure of
133, 142, 155 Appendix 3, 163 Consular administration, 142-3;
Appendix 4 decision to establish new administra­
Young Big Adam, 154 Appendix 3 tion, 143; part played in determining
Young Cobham, 154 Appendix 3 British moves by palm produce
Young Eyo, sec Eyo Etc prices, 144; conclusions on Efik
politics, 144-5
Efik politics and political history, v, vi; Efik settlement, 10-12
political offices, 42; Obong-ship defi­ Efik slave traders, 29, 31, 32,33,92
nition, 42-3; offices move to trading Efik society and social history, v, vi,
lineages, 43-4; personalities during vii; original social structure, 31;
slave trade, 45-9; subjection of incorporation of slaves, 31-2; upward
neighbours, 49-51; effect of slave mobility of Eyo Nsa, 32; Eyo Nsa
trade on, 51; inter-war rivalry for creates new ward, 32; segmentation
office, 113; political functions of of lineages into wards, 33; wards of
funeral sacrifices and poison bean dubious ancestry expand fastest, 33-
ordeal, 113; succession dispute on 4; self government of ward, 34; Efik
death of Great Duke Ephraim, 115; ward or house not like Bonny and
accession of King Eyamba V, 115; New Calabar canoe house, 34; integ­
downfall of Eyamba V, 115; rise of rity of village group, 34-5; integrating
 INDEX 187
force of Ndcm Efik, 35; growth of Ekpuk, 12,13
Ekpc, 35-8; Ekpc functions, 37-8; Elders, 34,40
EK'peeconomic functions, 38-9; struc­ Eliot, Capt. John, slave trader, 17
ture of Ekpe, 39; Ekpe as an inte­ Ema lineage, 13,33,35,43
grating organ, 39-40; village council, Emancipadocs, 104,111,112,129,138,
40; conclusions on effects of slave 145,147
trade on, 40-1; increase in Efik Emancipation, 104,109
traders in nineteenth century, 84; Emancipation papers, 104,109
expansion of population, 91; in­ Emuramura, 7
creased number of agricultural Enamelware, 75
slaves and settlement of Akpabuyo, England, 72,110,120
91-3; slaves unite with blood oath, English, 17, 18, 26, 28, 31, 49, 50, 85,
93-4; slaves participate in urban poli­ 106,107
tics, 94-6; upward mobility oftrading English law, 61
slaves, 96-7; identification of great Enterprise, slave ship, 55 fn
trading slaves, 97-9; further advance Enugu, 150
of trading slaves, 99-100; obtain Enyong, 26,28,86,122
highest Ekpe positions, 100-1; at­ Enyong Creek, 1,5
tempt to curb great slaves, 102; Mis­ Enyong tribe, 3
sion, 102-3; emancipation of Mission Esere, 113, sec poison bean ordeal
slaves, 104; opposition to emanci­ Ete Ekpuk, 13
pation, 104-5; liberated Africans Etim Effiom ward, 10 Chart 1,92-3
settle in Calabar, 105-6; opposition Etinyin, 42-3
to liberated Africans, 106-9; Euro­ Europe, 64,68,71,75,147
pean traders not allowed to settle on Europeans, v, 9, 13, 17, 23, 24, 26, 27,
shore, 109-11; conclusion on effects 28, 30, 37, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 47, 48,
of oil trade on Efik society, 111-12 49, 50, 55, 64, 65, 68, 69, 71, 73, 79,
Efik trading slaves, 31, 32, 33, see Efik 81, 82, 83, 84, 86, 88, 90, 109, 110,
great trading slaves 111,116,118,122
Efik traders, 24, 28,38,48,84-5,88 European traders, 17,18,19,20,21,24,
Efik trading agents, 27, 28, 84, 85, 96, 65,109-112,146
120 European manufactures, 24-5, 64, 75,
Efik trading empire, 90 76,79,82
Efik tribe, 3,7,9-13 European trade, 10, 17, 23, 46, 49, 50,
Efik wards, 33, 34, 35,37, 38,39,40,41, 55,79,81
43, 44, 45, 46, 48, 49, 51, 85, 91, 92, Eyamba, vi, 37 Chart 4, 39, 42, 45, 46,
93,95, 96,113,121,124,145,146,147 48, 51, 115, 116 Chart 9, 118, 119,
Efik ward members, 40, 93, 95, 96,146 120 121 123 129
Efiom Ekpo lineage, 12,12 Chart 3,13, EyXX 45 IB, 114, 118, 119,
33,44,124 131,144
Efut tribe, 5,9,10,109 Eyamba I to Eyamba XIV, see Efik
Egbo, 35,36,97, see Ekpe persons
Egbosherry, 50, see Ibibioland Eyamba ward, 10 Chart 1, 33, 34, 37
Egypt, 147 Chart 4, 44, 44 Chart 5, 45, 51, 92,
Ekoi tribe, 5,29,88 94,97,99,101,113,114,114 Chart 8,
Ekpe, founding of, 35-7; Eyamba title 115,116 Chart 9,117,118, 119, 121,
holders in, 37 Chart 4; sanctions, 38; 124,127,128,129,130,131,132,133,
functions, 37-9; membership, 39; 139,142,145,147,156,157,165
European traders join, 80. Also 28, Eyo ward, 33, 34, 45, 51, 97, 113, 114
29, 35, 37, 40, 42, 45, 46, 47, 71, 81, Chart 8,115, 120,123,159
93, 96, 97, 100, 101, 102, 109, 121, Experimental farm, 110
125, 126, 133, sec Egbo Extended family, 12
Ekpo lineage, see Efiom Ekpo lineage Ezza clan, 5
188 INDEX
Factories, 82,83,111, 120 Grant, narrator in Crow, Capt. Hugh,
Falconbridgc, Alexander, writer, 26, writer, 86
28 Grease, 68
Farmers, 3,5 Gum, 73
Fcrgusson, Cape Coaster, 106,107 Gunpowder, 73
Fernando Po,21,62,104,107,108,126, Guns, 3,24,25,27,73,74,81,131
127
Fertilizer, 5 Haddison, James, Jamaican mission
Fish, 5,7 employee, 61
Fishermen, 3, 7, 13, 25, 29, 31, 35, 146 Hall, Capt. J. A., slave trader, 32, 42,
Fishing, 7,9,32,35,40,42,43,44 55 fn
Fishing cult, 43, see Ndem Efik Hamilton & Co, trading company, 63
Fixed capital, 58 Hardware, 24,25,73,75,76
Fletchers, 25 Hartjc, Harry, agent, 80, 83
Food, 92 Hart Report, vi
Foreign Office, 61, 104, 108, 130, 131, Harvest fluctuations, 71
132,133,136,137,138,139, 140,141, Hearn, Michael, supercargo, 61,62
142 Hearn, William, supercargo, 62
Foreign Office enquiry, 62 Hcdd, Daniel, Sierra Leonean, 60,61
Fort Stewart, 111 Her Majesty’s Commissioner and Con­
Free Africans, see liberated Africans sul General, 133,143
Free Trade, on the Cross River, 81, 82, Henderson, Alex, agent, 80
83,90,137,149 HenshawTown-Duke Town war, 1875,
Freight rates, 63 74,85,125,138, 139
French, 18, 20, 22, 58, 134, 139, 140, Henshaw Town, 125,126,139
141,142,145 Henshaw ward, 10 Chart 1, 33, 43, 44,
Funeral sacrifices, 93, 94, 95, 102, 113, 44 Chart 5,47, 65, 82, 83, 85, 89, 92,
115, 120, 129, 136, sec also human 114 Chart 8, 124, 125, 126, 127, 129,
sacrifice 131, 138, 139, 154
Hoes, 25
Gatling gun, 131 Holman, James, R.N., traveller-writer,
Genealogy of Efik Obongs, 1600-1891, 27,38,73
44 Chart 5 Holt, John, palm oil merchant and
Genealogy of Creek Town Obongs. trader, 63,83, 140
117 Chart 10 Hopkins, A. G., writer, vii, 112,144
General Gowon, 150 Horsfall & Sons, trading company, 58,
George Canning, palm oil ship, 50 62,63, 80 fn
German, 89,141,142,145 Horsfall, Thomas B., merchant, 134
German gunboat, 89,143 Hulks, 59,63,64,99,108,109,110,111,
German Imperial Governor, 89 125
German sovereignty in Camcroons, 89, Human sacrifice, 26, 35, 130, 135, 136,
90
Gin, 74 137, 139, see also funeral sacrifices
Hunters, 5
Glasgow, 63,64
Goats, 5
Ibibioland, 5, 7, 9, 29, 50, 67, 88, see
Goldie, Revd. Hugh, missionary, 43, Egbosherry
85,86
Ibibio tribe, 3, 5,7,9,12,26, 31, 33,42,
Goldie-Taubman, of National Africa 43, 50,75, 88
Company, 140 Iboland, 28,29
Government of the Oil Rivers, 133 Ibo tribe, 3,5,7,28,29,76
Governor of Fernando Po, 21 Ibo slaves, 28,29
Grain crops, 1
Idem Ikwo, 37
Grandy Ekpc,46 Idip, 12
 INDEX 189
Iduan,89 Lace, Ambrose, merchant and slave
Ifiayong, 5,86 trader, 35
Ikimc, Obaro, writer, v Lagos, 67,144,149,150
Ikoncto, 100 Lagosians, 108
Ikorofiong, also Ikot Offiong, 5, 7, 85, Lancashire cloth, 74
89 Laundry-maid, 108
Ikot Ansa, 7,75 Law, 37-8, 40, 42, 103, 106, 107, 108,
Ikot Etunko, 9, see Creek Town 125
Ikot Offiong, also Ikorofiong, 28,86 Lawson, Capt. Caesar, 55 fn
Ikpa, 5,73,85,86,88,120 Leers, writer, 17
Ikpa Creek, 3,46 Legumes, 1
Ikpa Enc, 9,10 fn Leo Africanus, 17
Imperialism, vi, 141 Leyland, MessrsThos, slave merchants,
Implements, 25 55 fn, 56 fn
Imports, 24,25,73,74-9 Liberated Africans, 59,63,65, 80,105—
India, 147 9, 111, 112, 130, 138, 145, 147, see
Indian cloth, 74. See romals, photaes, free Africans
alligars, sastracundies, carridaries Lineage heads, 13,33,34
Inflation, 78 Lineages, 12, 13, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 40,
Inglis, agent, 61,110 43,51,91,146
Insurance, 72 Liquidation, 80
International economy, v, 30, 146, 148 Liquor, sec spirits, alcoholic
Iron, 7,24,25,73 Lister, Sir Villiers, 143
Itu, 5,28,81,85,86,89 Liverpool, growing importance as
Ivory, 17,23,73 slave port, 18; ships sailing for
Africa from, 19 Graph 1; Captains,
Jaja ofOpobo, 82,126,127 20; slaves in Liverpool ships from
Jamaica, 18,61 New Calabar, Bonny and Old Cala­
James, slave ship, 17 bar, 21 Table 2; ships dominate Old
James Irvine & Co, trading company, Calabar trade, 22; eighteenth cen­
67 fn tury palm oil imports, 24, 55, 56
Jansen, D. J. B., independent trader, Table 3; many firms leave trade,
64 62-5; salt exports to West Africa,
John Aqua, of Qua, 26 73; rum from, 75. Also 58, 61,120
Jones, G. I., writer, v, vi, vii, 3, 20, 31, Liverpool African Association presses
33,34, 38, 39,40,91,94,97,100 Palmerston to annex Old Calabar,
Jones, Revd., missionary, 106 135
Livestock, 5
Kalahari, 111, see New Calabar London, 18,22,69,72,144
King Calabar, sec Efik persons Long Juju of Arochuku, 2,26-7
Kent, palm oil ship, 58 Lord Derby, 126
King, vi, 37 Chart 4, 42, 43, 110, 129, Lord Salisbury, 142
130,131,132,137,141,143,147. For Lottery, slave ship, 55 fn, 56 fn
individuals see Efik persons, see also Louch, agent, 110
Obong
King of Qua, 50 McCoskry & Greer, trading company,
Kings of Cameroons, 139 64
Kinship, 32 MacDonald, Major, Commissioner
Kneale, Capt. Charles, slave trader, and Consul General, 133,143
55 fn, 56 fn McPhee, A., writer, 69
Knives, 25 Magisterial authority, 80,136,137,138,
Koclle, writer, 29 145,147
Krumcn, 110 Magistrate, palm oil ship, 157
190 INDEX
Mail steamers, 58,59,61,106,110,120, Needles, 76
136 Negrobells, 100
Maize, 1,3 Neptunes, 25, see brass basins
Mamfe, 7 Newbury, C. W., writer, v
Manchester, 74 . New Calabar, 17,21 Table 2,26,34
Marccs, Pieter De, writer, 17 New Town, 36, see Duke Town
Margarine, 64 New Wamaso, 89
Markets, hinterland, 5,7,9,13 New World, 23,146
Massacre of Old Calabar, 1767,46,49, Nicolls, Col., Governor of Fernando
see Old Town war 1767 Po, 21; 22,58
Matchets, 74 Nicholls, Henry, explorer, vi, 28, 36,
Mbakara, 39 46,47,50
Mbiakong, 46 Nicholls, Peter, Sierra Leonean, 59,60,
Mboko, 39 61
Mboko Mboko, 39 Niger, 140,141
Mbre Iduke ke Esuk Urua, 81 Niger Coast Protectorate, 149
Mbudikom, 29 Niger Company, 142
Mercenaries, 27 Niger Delta, 1
Messrs Trankrancm, trading company, Niger Expedition of 1841,106
63 Nigeria, 150
Metal working, 7 Nigerian Civil War, 150
Middlemen, 49,64,81,146,149 Night soil, 5
Miller Brothers, trading company, 65 Nkpara, 7,75
Mineral oil, 68 Nsutana, 10
Mission, 61,81,85,93,102-5,106,109, Ntiero ward, 10 Chart 1,33, 34,92,114
110, 111, 112,123,124,127,129,130, Chart 8,124,154
131,136,138 Nyamkpe, 39
Missionaries, 64, 75, 81, 83, 95, 102, Nyana Yaku, 13,35
103,107,110,117,121,130,147
Mission employee, 61 Obong (1), King, 42-3, 44, 44 Chart 5,
Mkpe, (1), early secret society, 35 45, 46, 48, 51, 99, 115,116, 117,118,
Mkpe, (2), grade in Ekpe, 39 120,121,123,124,126,127,128,129,
Monkeys, 23 131,138,139,145, see King
Monopoly, European, 59,65 Obong (2), in Ekpe, 39
Monrovia, 108 OZ>o//g-ship, vi, 44, 45, 46, 113, 114,
Murder of twin babies, 9,103,136,139 119,124,128,131,132,144
Obong isong, 13,40,43
Nair, K. K., writer, vi, 31, 62, 86, 92, Obubit oku, 78, see black coppers,
93,94,97,99,102 copper wires, currency
Nakanda, 39 Obubra, 5
National Africa Company, trading Obutong, 9, 10 Chart 1, 92, sec Old
company, 140 Town
Native Court, 133 Odobo, 88
Native Court Records, 149 Ofn rnakara, 103
N.C.N.C., political party, 150 Oil palm, 1,3,7,86
Ndem, Ibibio, 13, see Tutelary Deity Oil rivers, v, 67,139,141,142
Ndem cult, 13, 35,40,42,43-4,91,123, Okoyong, 88
see Ndem Efik Okoyong tribe, 5,27
Ndem Efik, 13,35, 146, sec Ndem cult Okpoho, 39
Ndem priest, 35, 42, 43-4, see Oku Okuakama, 39
Ndem and King Calabar Oku Ndem, 13, 35, 43-4, see Ndem
Ndem shrine, 124 priest, and King Calabar
Ndodoghi, 9 Okuk, 76, sec copper rods
 INDEX 191
Old Calabar Chamber of Commerce, Palm wine, 75,76
64 Pans, 75
Old Town, 9, 10, 11, 12, 33, 36,46,47, Parker, Isaac, seaman, 26,31,49
49,75,92,100,136, sec Obutong Parrot Island, 17,35
Old Town war, 1767, 47, sec Massacre Pawn, 27,79
of Old Calabar Pax Brittanica, 71,90
Old Town Kings, 11,11 Chart 2 Peach Tree, slave ship, 17
Oleum Palmae, 56 Table 3, see palm oil Penny, James, slave trader and palm
Olinda, chartered palm oil ship, 61,120 oil trader, 56
Opobo, 67 Photaes, Indian cloth, 74
Oron, 28, 89,127 Pioneer, naval vessel, 137
Oron war, 1882,89 Pirates, of Mbiakong 46, in Rio del Rey
51
Palaver house, 46 Pledge, 27, see pawn
Palm belt, 86,88 Poison bean ordeal, 94, 103, 113, 115,
Palmerston, Lord, refuses to annex 119,120,129,139,145, see esere
Old Calabar, 135,144 Polyglotta Africana, 29
Palm kernels, 64,67 Population, 91,150
Palm kernels trade, 64, 67,68 Graph 3, Port dues, 72, sec comcy
82 Port Harcourt, 149,150
Palm oil, 7, 13, 24, 55, 56 Table 3, 57 Porto Novo, 140
Table 4, 73, 91, 144, 145, sec oleum Portuguese 17,18,20
palmae Pots, 75
Palm oil markets, 64, 71, 73, 81, 82,83, Pottery, 7,75
85,86,87 Map 6,88,89,120,126 Prawn, 7
Palm oil prices, 62, 63, 64, 65, 68-72, Price lists, 65
70 Graph 4,144,145 Price rings, Efik, 71
Palm oil trade, vi, 24, 31; early de­ Price rings, palm oil traders, 58, 64, 65
velopment, 55-6, competition with Princess Royal, palm oil ship, 161
slave trade and coming of Mail Prisoners of war, 26
steamers, 58; supercargoes versus Profits, 72,144
liberated Africans, 59-61; Olinda Profit margins, 65,71
incident, 61; Consul Hutchinson Protectorate of Southern Nigeria, 149
translated, 62; depression of early Provisions, 23,49,56,85
60’s, 62-3; coming of agent system, Puncheons, 60,72,86
63; arrival of independent traders, Pytho, palm oil ship, 72
64; development of kernel trade, 64;
price ring and produce agreement, Qualbo, 28,82,89,126,127
65; oil exports, 65-7; kernel exports, Qua tribe, 5, 7,10,29,50, 75,82,109
67; prices in Europe, 68-9; prices in Queen Victoria, 135
Calabar, 69-71; turnover profit,
71-2; sundry exports, 73; imports, Raffia, 7,25,37,75
73-5; effects of trade on domestic Railways, in Britain 68, in Southern
economy, 75-9; credit, 79-81; Efik Nigeria 149
monopoly, 81-4; Efik trading oli­ R & W King, trading company, 65
garchy, 84—5; internal trading sys­ Ratio of oil exports to kernel exports,
tem, 85—6; markets, 86-8; market 67
expansion, 88-9; conclusions, 89- Reckord, Capt., slave trader, 17
90; dependency of missionaries and Red pepper, 73
liberated Africans on oil trade, 147 Redwood, 73
Palm oil traders, 48,55-65 Religion, 13,37,42
Palm produce 3, 5, 7, 149, see also Retainers, 32,33,48,51,92,146
Palm oil and Palm kernels Rickins, supercargo, 80 fn
 I
192 INDEX
Rio del Rey, 23,51,89,126, 133 British abolition of, 20-1; decline
Rituals, 26,35,46 and end at Old Calabar, 21-2;
River Rumby, 89 exports, 22-3; prices, 23; sundry
Rivers Province, 150 exports, 23-4; imports, 24; effects of
Robertson, G. A., writer, vi, 48,69 external trade on domestic economy,
Robin King Agbisherea, Ibibio, 50 24-5; internal slave trade, 25-6;
Rodney, Walter, writer, v development of internal marketing
Romals, Indian cloth, 74 system, 26-7; development of credit,
Ross, Revd. Alex, missionary, 88,130, 27; coming of Ekpe as capitalist
131 institution, 28; origins of slaves,
Rum, 75 28-9; conclusions, 29-30. Also 32,
Ryder, A. F. C., writer, v 35, 40, 49, 51, 55, 67, 74, 79, 86, 89,
90, 91,92, 111, 112, 134
Sailing ships, 59,63,136 1Slave traders, 17,18,20, 20 Table 1,21,
St Kitts, 108 22,48, 55 fn, 56, 58,92
Salt, 5,7,24,73,74,76,125 Slave war 1852,92,94,95
Salt boiling, 7,25 Smith, agent, 61,110
Salt Town, 50, sec Tom Shotts Smuggling, 89
Sastracundies, Indian cloth, 74 Snelgrave, William, writer, 24
Sawyer, 106 Soap,68
Schools, 107,110 Soil fertility, 5,6 Map 4,92
Scotsmen, 61,75 South Eastern State, 150
Secret society, 9, 13, 28, 31, 35, 42, 75, Southern Camcroons, 150
91, 146, see Ekpe, Mkpe and Nyana South Sea Bubble, 18
Yaku Spanish, 20
Selwyn, Lieut., R.N., 117,118,135 Spanish dollars, 22
Sempstress, 108 Spirit, fertility, 3
Servant, 108 Spirits, alcoholic, 24,73,74-5,75,76
Shares, 65 Staples, 76
Sheep, 5 Steam engine, 74
Shot, 76 Steam ships, 58, 59, 60, 63, 72, 83, see
Shrimps, 7 also Mail steamers
Sierra Leone, 29,55,59,61,106,108 Stuart & Douglas, trading company,
Sierra Leoneans, 60, 61, 106, 107, 62,63,65
108 Succession disputes, 94, 113-14, 115,
Slave exports, 17, 18, 20, 21 Table 2, 117-18, 119, 120-1,127,128-31,139,
22-3,24 145
Slave-markets, 26,27,28-9,31, 37 Suez Canal, 147
Slave movements, v, 93-6,135 Sugar, 18
Slave origins, 24,28-9 Supercargoes, 58, 59, 60, 61,62, 63,80,
Slave prices, 23 106,117,120,137
Slave-raiding, 26,28,29,31,49 Swiss prints, 74
Slavery, domestic, 25,26,31,32,33,34, Syphilis, 122
40,51,91-102,103-5,146
Slaves, vii, 17,23,25,27,28,29, 30,31, Tabac, 28, sec Oron
32, 33, 34, 39, 40, 43, 44, 48, 50, 51, Tailors, 107,108
81,85,91,92,93,94, 96,103-5, 108, Tallow, 68
109,111,115,118,122,146, etc Tariffs, 55, 133, 139, 141, 142, 147, sec
Slaves, agricultural, 48, 91, 93, 94, 95, Customs duties
96,97,111,112,116,121,146 Taylor, Laughland & Co, trading
Slaves, farm, see slaves, agricultural company, 63, 65
Slave trade, early development, 17-19; Teachers, 107,108
icacncrs, iv/,iuo
Calabar declines as slave port, 19-20; Technological advance, 59
 INDEX 193
Textiles, see cloth Usak Edct, 36, sec Bakasi
Thomas Harrison & Co, trading com­ Uwet, 29,88
pany, 65
Thompson, Revd. W. C., missionary, Vegetables, 1,3
81 Vice-Consul Johnston, Harry, 81, 133,
Tinplate industry, 63,68 142,143,144
Tiv, 29 Vice-Consul White, 109
Tobin, Sir John, palm oil merchant, 57 Victoria, 150
Tom Aqua, of Qua, 26 Village council, 13, 31, 35, 40, 41, 42,
Tom Shotts, 50, 51, 73, 74, 76, see Salt 43,44,91,97,101,102,121,126,146
Town Village council members, 97-9
Tools, 25,76,79 Village group, 12-13, 31, 34, 35, 40,
Traders, liberated Africans, 59-61, 63, 146
106,108 Village head, 13, sec obong isong
Traders, hinterland, 7
Trading capital, 58
Trading costs, 72 Wagebills, 59,72
Traditional society, v Waddell, Rcvd. H. M., missionary, 28,
Travellers’ descriptions, vi 29,34,71,73, 85,86
Treaty of Protection, 83, 111, 132,133, Walkdcn & Co, Manchester commis­
142 sion agents, 65 fn
Trade goods, 24,73-5 Walker, Scott & Co, trading company,
Tribute, 10 63
Trust, 27, 51, 59,60, 79-81,85,116, sec Walker, Capt. J. B., agent, 38, 64, 80,
credit 108 fn,110, 111
Turnover, 59 Walking canes, gold finished, 24
Turnover profit, 71,72 Watts, George, independent trader, 64,
Tutelary deity, 13, 31, 146, sec Ndem 65,80,82,83,89,127
cult and Ndem Efik Watts, John, seaman, vi, 17,26,27
Twins, 9,97 Wax, 73
Tyrer, W., agent, 64 Welcome, slave ship, 17
Tyson & Richmond, trading company, West African Mail Company, 63
62 West Indies, 108
Tyson, Richmond & Jones, trading Whip, 37
company, 63 White, J. H., agent, 80
Wilks, Ivor, writer, v
Ufok, 12,31,33 William King Agbishcrea, Ibibio, 50
Umon, 26,28,71, 83, 85,86,88,89, sec Witchcraft, 94, 95, 103, 113, 121, 122,
Bosun, Boostam, Eericock Boat­ 150
swain Wood, 25,32
Umon tribe, 5 Woodcutting, 32
Umon-Akunakuna war, 120 Wooden houses, imported, 23,100,120
Umon-Calabar wars, 85,88
United States, 147 Yako tribe, 29
Uruan clan, 3,9,12,31 Yams, 1,3, 5, 7,13
Uruan, 3,9,12,13 Yorubaland, 106,112
 OXFORD STUDIES IN AFRICAN AFFAIRS
General Editors
John D. Hargreaves and George Shepperson

David Birmingham Kwame Yeboa Daaku

Trade and Conflict in Angola Trade and Politics on The Gold Coast 1600-1720
C. W. Newbury Donal B. Cruise O'Brien
The Western Slave Coast and its Rulers The Mourides of Senegal
A. Adu Boahen Richard Hill
Britain, The Sahara, and the Western Sudan On the Frontiers of Islam
1788-1861
Marcia Wright
Ruth Mo<nc.-tbau German Missions in Tanganyika 1891 -1941
■ f,.. r ii> F«.cr, taxing West. Africa
Janet Robertson
Liberalism in South Africa 1948-1963

■t Kenneth James King•9

Pan Africanism andd Education
Peter £ Garlick
African Traders and Economic Development in
•3 hunt
. .." ' > T

J
...................................................................■■

,iKlde:.j>e Tarr
•r’r.ifch and Sb’jte in Ethiopia 1270-1527
f ' I'J,' -H i Hubaraza
Rut.,™ Karugire
■/ .. )‘-v of th© Kingdomt of Nkore

'^a^pa.ns
Mohamed Ome- Beshn Pjs'u Reb?. t sedition 1866-1890
Educational Development in The Rud r>
1898 1956 E-'-iJ tf James S. Read •
:e