Curiosities

Planting Season 1894

Hiyah,

 Here is a bit of gossip for you.  Ama has been filling us in on the happenings at the coast with the Whiteman and the curiosities they have been generating with their way of life here.

 Take this for instance:

We had been up half the night with countless tales from Ama about happenings at the coast with the Whiteman. One of the most fascinating was how easily he takes to the big waters. It was told us that he on  a daily basis, takes his clothes off leaving just some under pants, jumps into the sea, goes under water for a while and comes up again, repeating this many times before eventually coming back to shore visibly unharmed. Most peculiar of all, he would go far into the sea and return much later looking very pleased with himself. Ama had heard it tell that the Whiteman finds this daily chore very relaxing though she could not understand why he never disappeared permanently under the water and why the undersea people never cared about keeping him with them for good. She just did not get this one.

 
‘But, that is where he comes from; he comes from the undersea kingdom!’ I blurted out recalling the numerous stories Otiti and the other palace story tellers had told us about the White people who in the past had come over the seas to visit the King.

‘What do you mean?’ Ama enquired.

‘Well, it is said that the White men used to come to see the king, bring him  presents; buy things that they needed and when they were leaving after trading with the chiefs, the king gave them numerous presents and sent some of his soldiers to escort them back to their ship. The soldiers stayed on the coast and watched till they had travelled some distance and disappeared into the sea, before going back to report to the king. ’

 ‘But these ones do not go back; they just go into the sea every day and come back up again. ’ Ama uttered exasperatedly.

‘Maybe they go to tell their people about us;’  ‘But I do not understand why they have to do so every day;’ Edugie looked puzzled, no doubt imagining how difficult this would have been for her had it been her job.

  ‘I do not believe that I have ever seen any Whiteman at the palace, Edugie, have you? It was me thinking aloud.

‘No, I haven’t!’ she responded.

‘So why are they staying here at the coast instead of coming to see the king?

‘All I keep hearing is that they are quarrelling with the King.’ Ama volunteered.

‘Why would anyone want to quarrel with the king?’ I asked.

‘The way they speak through their noses is annoying because you cannot understand them, maybe they have said something under their nose and someone has told the King the wrong thing.’ Uwa had not said anything till now; she looked thoughtful; nodding her head at the same time. ‘Chief, my dad, told me that the reason we are here is that they the Edo chiefs want to try to sort things out, maybe this time, the Whiteman will speak slowly so that they can be understood and maybe not speak so much through their noses.’ Uwa added. This seemed to make a lot of sense, after all no one of us wanted any disagreements between the Whiteman and the King particularly as the Whiteman used to bring presents to the King.

 ‘I still believe that they are spies.’ It was Ama, looking very worried.

 ‘Do you all know what, we should just sleep now and in the morning, we can go and see for ourselves. We could see if we can understand a word they are saying, speaking through one’s nose is not helpful when people don’t understand you.’ I was now more than ever anxious to behold the Whiteman myself; I have not ever seen anyone speak through their nose before, this promised to be an experience worth having; one I was looking so very forward to.

 With all in agreement, we turned in for the night.

 Catch Yah!

 
Princess Iyomon.

A New Era

Planting Season 1894

Hiyah,

 Welcome back. The girl, Moi, needed a break but we are back now.

 Keep reading.
 
LOL,

 Princess Iyomon

Disaster Looms!

Planting Season 1894

Hiyah,
 

I did indeed meet the Whiteman but nothing could have prepared me for the devastating consequences of what he did next. Little did I know that my world was about to be turned upside and that nothing would ever be the same again.

My story continues in Princess Iyomon Diaries. Look out for this in the coming months on this very page.

Make sure you check back here regularly.

LUL (Love you lots).

Princess Iyomon

Seaside Experience

Planting Season 1894

Hiyah,

I am quite looking forward to today’s adventure at the seaside now that I have had time to acclimatise to the coast and sounds of the sea. 

Let me introduce Ama; she is our host Chief Iziengbe’s last daughter by his second wife, he has  four wives. She is about our age (Uwa and Me); fair and light skinned, she  always seems to have this grin on her face that makes you not quite sure if she was mocking you or not. By and by, I decided not to take offence at her jokes ( it seems that she forgets that  I am a royal princess and that she must show some respect); by the looks of things, this would be very difficult to uphold, therefore  accommodating her seems a fine solution for she is my escort on this visit; I have heard tales of young girls deliberately taking their guest into a cross road in the forest and losing them there on account of them showing some disrespect in order to take the person  down a peg or two . I am smart enough to know not to get on anyone’s wrong side particularly in a place I am not familiar with.   It is not my intention to provide anyone with a chance to loss me at sea, I might end up in the undersea Kingdom and never see my friends and family again, this would be unbearable. I am going to be very nice to Ama.

As soon as the sun came up this morning, we girls:  Ama, Omosegho (Ama’s senior sister),  Uwa, Ejiehia (Uwa’s half sister) Edugie and Me, downed our breakfast of roasted corn and assorted  nuts with spring water as fast as we could and set off for what promised to be a life time experience for us visitors from Benin.

By the time we arrived at the beach, which must have been a couple of hours, the sun was already high in the sky and so it was quite humid though the cool breeze from the sea cooled us. Ama and Omosegho, took us to a rocky part of the beach where we dropped our bags and calabash pots . Omosegho explained that since it was our first time at the seaside, we could just stay very close to the rocks and not have to step into the sea if we did not feel up to it.  She showed us how to play in the rock pool, she took me gently by the hand, swishing the warm sea water with her feet and scooping up handfuls of beach sand simultaneously. The glistering sand sieved through her fingers forming pretty patterns as they dropped to the rock pool floor.  This proved to be a very enjoyable experience for me as I begun to enjoy sieving bigger stones and rocks from the little ones, the colourful sea shells added a new dimension to the pattern making.

‘Come on, see if you can catch me!’ it was Ama running deliriously down the beach making intertwining footprints as she ran. I was quite taken by the patterns she made and even more fascinated by how quickly the waves wiped them off; she seemed to be able to get away from the waves before they caught up with her making it all seem so effortless and fun.

‘Come on let’s try it;’ Uwa was saying but before I had time to respond, she had raced after Ama, leaving me alone with Edugie who also seemed to be desperate to join in; I gave in.

‘Why not, let’s join in.’ I chased after Uwa and Edugie followed suit; I could not believe that I had lost all my fear of the sea, where I found the courage, I would never know but I was soon enjoying the feel of the warm sea water and squelching sand under my feet. What a great time I had running up and down that beach, playing ‘Catch Me if you can’ game with the waves.

We must have carried on for hours, for by the time we knew it, the sun was at its highest point in the sky and we needed to have our lunch. We took shelter under a nearby shrub, spreading out, we gobbled our lunch of fresh forest fruit and bean cakes.

‘Ok, this is what you do, first find some crab holes and then watch out to see where the crab is; when it leaves its hole, you give it enough time to go some distance from it, then you creep up to the hole and fill it up with sand to  block it;. When the crab comes back and cannot get back into its hole, you have to catch it by putting a calabash pot over it and scooping it up from the ground. Small baby crabs are no good because they won’t have much meat on them. Is this understood?’

‘Yes’ We all answered  in chorus.

‘Good, off we go then, but if you want to watch me catch a crab before trying to do so yourself, you can;’ ‘ Come on, off we go!’ It was Omosegho our now group leader instructing us on crab catching.

This was to be our first and only lesson in seaside crab trapping.

Omosegho led the way to a different part of the beach which was much quieter and with hardly any human activity; it looked like a city of crab holes. I was excited and worried at the same time as I have heard stories how some unfortunate person who had not handled the caught crab correctly have had their fingers chopped off by razor sharp claws of the crab;  I did not want to be fingerless on account of  a crab.

Omosegho seemed to be a master crab catcher for soon she had collected six big and four average sized crabs; she made it all seem so easy that I decided to try my hands at it. I found a clear spot in the crab city with no footprints, sizing up where to pitch myself, I crouched down in wait for an unsuspecting crab to put in an appearance and very soon one did; crawling at such speed from its hole, it was soon out of sight. Sensing victory and working at break neck speed, I soon filled the hole up with sand and waited; soon enough, the crab was back. Feeling exhilarated at the thought of  catching my very own crab,  I  made a dash to cover the crab with my calabash pot  but alas, the crab was much faster than I had anticipated, it disappeared into another hole which I am positive was not his but anyhow, he was gone from sight and I had lost a crab. After a  couple of experiences like this, I gave up and offered to look after the calabashes for others so their crabs do not escape.

‘They wouldn’t anyway;’ Omosegho was saying; just when I thought I wouldn’t be able to get away with it, Edugie came to my rescue; ‘They may try to do so, just because they know it is us and they know that we are not used to this.’

‘Okay then.’ Omosehgho seemed to understand. Relieved I sat down and spent the rest of the time listening to the soothing sounds of the sea.  By the time the sun started to go down, we had two big calabashes full of crabs of different sizes; we set off back home with Edugie and Omosegho carrying these.

‘See what we caught!’ Omosegho announced when we arrived back at the chief’s house; the women were very pleased indeed, giving us big cheers. I couldn’t wait to taste the dinner they’d prepare.

Dinner was ace! Never tasted anything quite like it; seafood is in a different league of its own.



Checking out time, it’s been a really enjoyable day and me thinks that I am really enjoying this visit to the coast; guess what,  a little birdie tells me that tomorrow, we will be going up to spy on the Ebo (Whiteman);  I cannot wait!

Stay cool for now.

Princess Iyomon.

Momo Daughter of The Sea

Planting Season 1894

Hiyah,

As I stepped onto the beach, my heart pounded, my legs froze and my jaws dropped; fear gripped my entire being and I felt cold to the core.

I had heard a lot about the life-taking sea from countless tales told to us by Otiti the Palace Story Teller; but nothing could have prepared me for the sight that lay in front of me right now. Endless miles of ginormous silvery mass spread out in front of me; the roaring crashing sound mixed with the surging splashing foams rendered the whole spectacle quite captivating and crippling at the same time.  

This was my first sight of the sea! 

                                                                    This was my first sight of the sea.

“Remember to keep away from the water’s edge!” My mother had repeatedly warned before we set off on our journey to the coast; those words now echoed in my ears. Otiti’s countless tales of undersea kingdoms now came flooding back. I tried to place the last one she told us about Momo against this backdrop, the very thought of the events made me shudder with fear as I shook in my boots.  

Momo had been an only child, Eyi had borne her in her old age. Eyi had tried for years for children but was reportedly told by the native midwives that she was barren and what delight when pushing on fifty years old, she finally fell pregnant. Much tale abounded about where this beautiful fair skinned child had come from; there was only one explanation, the people of the sea had sent her, for how could a woman so old bear a child.  Needless to say, Momo was pampered to a fault by her parents and the whole community, she always got her own way; she was in effect a spoilt brat. She tormented her doting mother so. Eyi, her mum had warned her not to go anywhere near water, river or sea, but one day out of sheer defiance, Momo, left the village and went to the river, stepped in and was instantly swept away never to be seen again. It was told that she had been taken by undersea people from whom she had come.

                                                             she stepped in and was instantly swept away.


In otiti’s stories, the undersea people are greenish yellow with fibrous tree roots for hair; their reddish yellowy eyes can pierce right through one’s being causing razor sharp pains to the person. One was likely to be permanently damaged in some way after contact with an undersea person.

Momo’s story tells that she was taken back to the undersea kingdom for perpetual punishment for her insolent behaviour towards her mum and for causing her much heartache. It is said that the roaring sounds at the seaside is a combination of languishing cries from all the children that have been taken to the undersea kingdom; they would never be free to come back home to their parents and friends.

I now remember my mother’s warning to keep away from the water’s edge and oblige immediately, I do not fancy being grabbed by the undersea people; I stay right where I am to look out for other signs of the undersea kingdom. Otiti had told us that some of the undersea palaces are so massive that their turrets rise about the water level and you can see them, I peered very hard for signs of the turrets, but could not see any right now, I think when I am older I will search around for them to quench my curiosity on the matter, I definitely want to see how an undersea castle looks like.

I am here because Chief Irriah and some other Palace Chiefs are on a business matter for His Majesty to The Port. The Port is a town along the coast where a lot of buying and selling amongst people from different parts of the world take place; here some other chiefs work for his Majesty.  Uwa and I had been delighted when the Chiefs invited us to come along with them. We did not know or care much about the nature of their business or mission; all we wanted to do was have a chance to look upon the sea with our own eyes and to see the setting for all those tales Otiti and other story tellers had been telling us. We were simply intrigued with the idea of a fascinating undersea kingdom where we would be kept as slaves if we were kidnapped and taken under. We wanted to learn more.

As I contemplated the glittering sight, I could have easily stood for hours there, desperately trying to catch a view of the projecting turrets of the undersea king’s castle as in Otiti’s stories; Edugie, patted me lightly on the shoulder saying it was time to go. In a way, I was relieved that on this occasion, no undersea person had attempted to grab me but was equally disappointed that I had not been able to see one of them or at least the castle turrets. I was so looking forward to going back to the palace with my own tales of my encounter with the undersea people; but alas, this was not to be on this occasion.

                                                      I was disappointed not to see an undersea castle turret.

What is my view of the sea: turbulent, treacherous, perilous and definitely unsafe to play around. I shall be heeding my mum’s advice and keeping well away from the water’s edge.

Otiti’s and the other story tellers’ tales have certainly had the desired effect!

Keep safe for now.

Princess Iyomon

Market Day

Land clearing season 1894


My big sister Princess Isoken, is taking me along to the market today. Edugie (my maid) is helping adorn me for the occasion (it's her day off today, security will be provided by market staff); she has braided my hair, inserting shiny golden beads of different colours between each weave; I am simply going to look the most beautiful girl in the whole market, though I suspect that my sister Princess Isoken would like that to be her. I think that she is seeing a guy but its top secret for now (watch this space!). With my hair beautifully braided, shiny luxurious red and white beads round my neck and wrists, with accompanying handbag, the one Uwa's mum knitted for me two moons ago, I am finally ready. I am so going to show off at the market; royal princess aside, it is good to be the centre of attention based on your own merit of being a beautiful damsel; that will be me for today.

Here is some information about Edo market days.

 

Back to me, on arrival at the market, my big sister, simply found Uwa's mum's stall, left me there and disappeared; but I wasn’t complaining. Uwa soon turned up, teaming up, we went round the market exchanging friendship bracelets as we were braiding them and what fun we were having doing this! The highest point for me came when Chief Irriah, treated us to some corn and bean cakes, these are simply divine on the taste buds and worth going to the market for in their own rights. Shortly after filling our stomachs, Uwa and I left the market for her house where we spent the rest of the afternoon, knitting more friendship bracelets for our sisters and other friends.

My sister Princess Isoken finally called for me as dusk fell, on her face was an ecstatic kind of look and I wondered what she’d been up to (no prizes for guessing)!



Princess Iyomon.

Here I am! Historical facts provided by Hon. Barrister Patrick Aigbogun

Hi,

I am Princess Iyomon, daughter of His Majesty King Adolo (1848–1888) of the Great Kingdom of Benin. Here is a link to a little taster of the greatness of my ancestors, dad included: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benin_Empire#Monarchs , you can view Kingdom of Benin Oba time line here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oba_of_Benin. More on the BBC website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/worldhistory/benin_bronze/

As I was saying, my story begins a long, long time ago but as you can appreciate, I will not be as precise with dates as the rest of you can be; this is because as you very well know, we Africans until very recently never kept dairy dates or calendars, we used oral stories to pass on our history from one generation to the next. One other method we used was, our elders recount and place events against other worldwide major events of the time, I am always fascinated at their accuracy with this method.  My people are also pretty good at biographical recounts of our famous sons and daughters, they simply work backwards from the person’s date of death, recounting their feats along the way, I find this a more exciting way of recounting a person’s life achievements than starting from the date of birth, one can then only ever add the most memorable and news worthy items in it.


Though, some western historians frown at these methods of recording historical evidence, guess what, no one method can claim superiority over others in providing historical evidence for our world history. However The Great Kingdom of Benin has an advantage in this respect in that in addition to the above methods, it has also used various other methods to preserve and record its history including through art and metal works by the palace Guild of Blacksmiths and in architecture. Read about some of them here: http://www.britishmuseum.org/PDF/british_museum_benin_art.pdf

For dates accuracy purposes, I will start blogging from the time period of the British exploits in the palace, 1897 to be precise. But as my life did not start then, I will start a couple of years earlier to provide a backdrop to my story. Dad (His Majesty) died when I was four years old and my eldest brother crown Prince  Ovonramwen came to the throne as the new Oba (the king). The story I tell begin during his reign as I cannot remember much before then; I have got lots to tell, just stay with me.

Got to go right now,  see u later.

Princess Iyomon