ABSTRACT
A form of English with many pidgin characteristics existed in Calabar at the end of the eighteenth century and is evidenced by the diary kept by an Efik chief, Antera Duke, between 18 January 1785 and 31 January 1788. The geographical proximity of Calabar and coastal Cameroon argues the likelihood that a related variety of English existed there. The close contact b3tween Calabar and Douala, for example, is indicated in Duke's own diary (King Aqua/Akwa was a Douala chief and the name 'Akwa' used by one chiefly family): '1: 10: 1787 I have see two King aqua women slave com from my yard Break one my god Bason he say will be slave so I Did send word to King aqua to Let us know' (Forde, 1956, pp.110-11); and is referred to in the letter written from Douala to Queen Victoria (quoted above). Cameroon Pidgin was certainly well established when the German administration began in 1884 and since that date there are almost unbroken records of its use, especially in missionary publications.
