ABSTRACT
In the old days crimes of unfaithfulness would appear to have been far more uncommon than at present, probably owing to the terrible penalties inflicted. The chiefs expressed themselves as unanimous in wishing the penalties for infidelity to be made more severe than the comparatively light damages exacted at present; but their attitude is very one-sided. In the foregoing story both Ekpenyong and Adiaha were bidden to go down to the water and bathe so that their bodies might be laved from head to foot. A juju of special renown as the protector of women and the bestower of fertility is that called Isemin. Great pythons are thought to guard the dwelling-place of the deity—a little hut overlooking the stream. Some half-mile off is to be seen the shrine of the juju Okwu Okat, before which girls of the aforementioned place must show themselves on entering the Fatting-house.
