A visit to the spot indicated revealed no sign of what we were seeking--only an unseemly group such as is to be found in nearly all such buildings, the woman bending forward at right angles from the waist, her head resting upon the square base of one of the roof pillars, while the male figure behind her was unmistakably engaged in the Geschlechts Akt. The present head priest of Otaminni, Amade Onyeche, was at the moment anxious to be appointed to the post of warrant chief in the place of his late brother. This made him not only willing but eager to impart information. His disclosures were, indeed, on certain points rather embarrassingly full. He stated, and his account was afterwards borne out by those of other Ibo, that the male figure was not that of a man but of the very Ogbango whom we had thought absent. In proof of this statement the priest pointed out that, in its right hand, on the left shoulder and beneath the left arm, the ape held a round ball, representing those hard fruits which, according to widespread native testimony, it is his habit to fling at passers-by, thereby stunning, or even killing, them. This we had already heard from many parts of the country. At Obogwe it was added that so heavy were the fruits and so great the strength of this ape that it was thought he might even succeed in stunning an elephant therewith! Amade Onyeche continued: It is customary among our people to take up the position of this couple for such a purpose, when there is no bed near at hand. It is forbidden to lie upon the ground, lest Ale should be defiled thereby. There are many of these great apes in our bush who, if they meet a woman alone, force her to bear a child to them. The same belief, according to Amuneke of Umo Yekki, is held in the neighbourhood of Owerri. It is probably connected with the idea that the souls of bad men pass into ape form at death. It appears that the evil human spirit, confined in the animal body, is thought to take this means of providing a new form in which to re-incarnate. [Illustration: FIG. 10. The Chief of Opioro, head priest of Otaminni] [Illustration: FIG. 11. Figure of Mbafor in the Njokku Mbari at Omo Dim] III MBARI HOUSES (_continued_)