At the planting of new farms the members of each compound assemble beneath the family tree and give a great play. At such times they bring gifts and dance and sing, robed in their best, praying the ancestral shades to guard the seeds laid in the bosom of Mother Earth and help them to come to fruition. Again, at harvest time, another play is held to thank the ghosts for their share of the crops. A part of the increase is always set aside in gratitude to these beneficent spirits. There is an interesting point to be noted about such ‘ghost trees.’ In this part of the District only the souls of good men are thought to await reincarnation in these peaceful dwelling-places, gladdened by sunshine, quickened by gentle dews or warm fertilising rain and refreshed by soft breezes. It is a matter of firm belief that, however fiercely tornados may rage around, these are spared. The branches of such trees are never rudely torn nor dashed together, while no thunderbolt has ever been hurled against their sacred trunks. The ghost of an evil man would in vain seek admittance within the shelter of the family tree, but would be driven forth by the shades of his blameless kin to await, in animal form, a new term of earth life. Young brides, therefore, often linger beneath those trees in which dwell the souls of gentle ancestors, in the hope that one such may choose her as his Janua terrae. Among Owerri Ibo, however, a different belief is held; only the ghosts of those foully slain, whether by force or witchcraft, are thought to seek refuge in the tree tops, there to wail and cry throughout the hours of darkness and in time of storms with a pitiful sound ‘like a small chick or a piccan but a few days old,’ until the guilty cause of their untimely death has been brought to justice. It has already been mentioned that ghosts, who have taken on brute form while awaiting reincarnation, sometimes fall upon women who chance to pass through their haunts. By means of the animal body, which they temporarily inhabit, these evil spirits force their unfortunate victims to bear a babe, into which the sinful soul may enter--thus procuring an earlier return to mortal state. From a case heard in Degama Native Court it also transpired that, among some Kalabari at least, the belief is held that the spirits of dead husbands are not altogether cut off from earthly joys but, when bound by specially ardent affection for the wives they have left behind, may on occasion return for the purpose of once more embracing the object of their desire. That such a proceeding is supposed to be not without danger to the woman thus visited will be seen from the statement of Ogoloba H. Horsfall, who summoned her brother-in-law, Charlie H. Horsfall, for accusing her of witchcraft. Complainant stated on oath: