Upon hearing these words the old men rose to their
feet, and danced with excitement and fury; but after
a short time they calmed down, and said that surely
the next day would see the treaty made. We ascertained
that the reason why the principal leaders among
the Embe appeared so bent upon prolonging the discussion
of any question was that it was customary for
these old men, when considering a weighty matter, to
subsist entirely upon a meat diet. The meat they eat
is the flesh of either sheep or goats, derived from the
fines which they inflict upon any delinquents in the
tribe who have been brought to them for trial.
Meat is considered so highly as a luxury, among
these people, that one of these old men is willing
to speak for an hour or two upon any subject, in
order to secure a pound or two of flesh. A story,
illustrating the methods of these elders in such matters,
came to my ears during my stay among the
Embe upon this occasion. An old man possessing
a small flock of ten goats was accused by a neighbour
of having stolen two from him. Immediately the
old men of the adjacent villages assembled to discuss
the matter, and mete out justice to the contending
parties. They spent five days in the discussion,
during which time two goats per diem were needed
for their sustenance, which was supplied by the
defendant to the action. When they found his stock
had become exhausted, they adjudged the case in his
favour, and forced the plaintiff to pay to the defendant
two goats, for having accused him falsely.
I found that the government of the Embe was
in a sense patriarchal, in that the policy of the