The tailed head-hunters of Nigeria : an account of an official's seven years' experiences in the Northern Nigerian pagan belt, and a description of the manners, habits, and customs of some of its native tribes / by A.J.N. Tremearne.
- Arthur John Newman Tremearne
- Date:
- 1912
Licence: In copyright
Credit: The tailed head-hunters of Nigeria : an account of an official's seven years' experiences in the Northern Nigerian pagan belt, and a description of the manners, habits, and customs of some of its native tribes / by A.J.N. Tremearne. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![as mentioned before], the Frog being the most important of them. So they started travelling, and soon afterwards the Fisli which owned the eggs and had been left behind, entered the house where the Spider had been lodging, and saw that he had eaten the eggs. Then they called out, “ Bring back the stranger, he has eaten the eggs.” But the Spider heard first, and said, “ Hurry, hurry, the rain is coming,” and, when he had come to the bank, he told the Fish escorting him to get inside his basket and he would carry them. The Frog was going to enter, but the Spider prevented him, but the Fish all got inside, and the Spider tied up the mouth of the basket tightly, and then he lighted a fire and put one of the Fish on it to grill. Now it happened that just then the Lion arrived, and came up behind the Spider and stood there. But the Spider did not see him, and as soon as the first Fish was cooked he took it off the fire to make room for the next, and threw it behinti him, and the Lion took it. This happened each time, and when all had been cooked the Spider looked around, expecting to see his pile of Fish, and found that the Lion had eaten every one. Then the Spider was furious, but, being always cunning, he addressed the Lion with the usual salutation, “ O Great One, Elder Brother of the Forest, did you see the feast that I provided for you ? ” And the Lion replied that he had, and they went off together, apparently the best of friends. As they were walking along, a Partridge flew out just in front of them, and the Spider said that she was trying to avoid paying her barber [for tattooing her]. Then the Lion said, “ Was it you who made those marks on her.?” and the Spider said “ Yes.” A little farther on a Guinea-Fowl rose up, and the Spider said that she too was trying to cheat him. Then the Lion asked if the Spider had made her marks for her also, and, on being told that that was the case, he said that he should like some. Then the Spider said, “ It will be very difficult to tattoo you, O Strong One, unless proper preparations are made ; first, it will be neces- sary to kill a Buffalo, and to flay it, and to make a rope of the hide.” So the Lion captured a Buffalo, and gave the body to](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b29010445_0391.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
