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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![could steal the Donkey skin, he should he given a Horse [a form of currency and a ceremonial present] as a reward. Now the Hunter had made friends with a Hawk, and he said to it, “ O Hawk, if this Girl enters the water, and you manage to steal her skin, I will give you three Fowls;” so when the Girl had gone into the water and had taken off her Donkey skin the Hawk swooped down and took it. When the Girl came out and found that her skin had disappeared, she ran home to her mother’s house and hid, but her Parents gave her a WOman’s clothing, and took her to the King’s house, and the King made her his Wife. There are several tales of human beings marrying with insects or animals, but there is usually deceit on the part of the latter, and these unions usually end in a sad way, but in one tale the spider is admitted to be the best husband of all, though the reasons do not seem very satisfactory to us. Dodo, the Spider, and his Wives A Spider had two wives, and one day he went and made up two bundles of wood, and he brought them and gave each Wife one. Then he asked them if there were any Man who would do better than he had [because he had done their work for them], and as they said that there was, he told them to take him to the house of the Man who was better than he was. So they started out, and having bought white cloth, they came to the house of Dodo [a mythical monster; in this case he is a land spirit, for he cannot enter the river, but he is u.sually a water god, possibly originating from the crocodile]. They said to Dodo’s Mother that they had brought a Bride for the “ Man of Men,” and then they left the Spider there, wrapped in the white clothes like a bride [the face being also veiled], and went home. Soon afterwards. Dodo came home singing, and wondering how he was going to wash the dirt from his body, and, when the Spider heard him, he got up and ran away. When Dodo had arrived, his Mother told him that a Bride had been brought for him, and Dodo asked where she was. Then he looked in the clothes, but saw no bride, and he followed the Spider’s footsteps.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b29010445_0395.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
