In Africa’s Forest and Jungle: Six Years Among the Yorubas

229 Pages·2009·1.11 MB·English

by  Richard Henry Stone

In Africa’s Forest and Jungle
Religion and ameRican cultuRe
SerieS editorS
david edwin Harrell Jr.
Wayne Flynt
edith l. Blumhofer
In Africa’s Forest and Jungle
Six Years Among the Yorubas
R. H. Stone
e b F F
dited by etty inklea lorey
the university of alabama Press
Tuscaloosa
Copyright © 2010
The University of Alabama Press
Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487‑0380
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
Typeface: Bell MT
Designer: Kaci Lane Hindman
Original photographs circa 1859–1861
∞
The paper on which this book is printed meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences‑Permanence of Paper for
Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48‑1984.
Library of Congress Cataloging‑in‑Publication Data
Stone, Richard Henry.
In Africa’s forest and jungle : six years among the Yorubas / by R. H. Stone ;
edited by Betty Finklea Florey.
p. cm. — (Religion and American culture)
Includes index.
ISBN 978‑0‑8173‑5567‑8 (pbk. : alk. paper) — 978‑0‑9183‑8446‑3 (electronic)
1. Stone, Richard Henry. 2. Missionaries—United States—Biography.
3. Missionaries—Nigeria—Biography. 4. Baptists—Missions—Nigeria.
5. Yoruba (African people)—Nigeria—Religion. I. Florey, Betty Finklea. II. Title.
BV3625.N6S76 2010
266´.6132092—dc22
[B]
2009018499
Contents
acknowledgments vii
introduction ix
1. along the coast 1
2. up the ogun 4
3. in native Homes 8
4. the Story of crowther 13
5. in a native caravan 16
6. an african despot 20
7. our First dwelling 25
8. Some Beasts and insects 28
9. life and language 33
10. Superstitions 36
11. Polygamy 42
12. Some african maladies 47
13. Hunting 49
14. mental Solitude 53
15. Waylaid and captured 56
16. Flight from ebaddan 63
17. Home again 68
18. opening Battles around ejahyay 74
19. Worshipping the dead Prince 80
20. leaving the doomed city 87
21. Partial civilization 92
22. love letters 96
23. a narrow escape 101
24. the Human Sacrifice 107
25. the Stolen child 110
26. improvements 115
27. cast among Robbers 118
28. the colony of lagos 123
transcription of original Sources 127
illustrations follow page 55
index 205
Acknowledgments
i wish to thank Professor toyin Falola, an inspiring and articulate historian,
who generously provided poignant information, pertinent texts, and creative
suggestions.
i also wish to thank dr. lekan ayanwale, former department Head of
Veterinary medicine at the university of ibadan and the first african Vice‑
President of the World Veterinary association, who, as a native of ijaye,
enthusiastically shared many aspects of the Yoruba culture with me.
additionally, i wish to thank dr. david mathews, President of the
Kettering Foundation, who initiated communication with several prominent
nigerian and america educators; dr. chapman greer, a dedicated scholar,
who helped me with the initial editing; ana Schuber who provided an
interesting perspective on cultural history; Fred anderson and darlene
Slater Herod of the Virginia Baptist Historical Society for introducing
me to my great‑grandfather’s handwritten journal and artifacts; edith m.
Jeter, archivist of the international mission Board of the Southern Baptist
convention, who spent hours researching, photocopying, and mailing me
the handwritten letters of R. H. Stone; arlette copeland and Susan Broome
of the Jack tarver library of mercer university, who scoured the records
and found articles and references to Stone in The Christian Index and Henry
a. tupper’s book; elizabeth c. Wells, Special collections archivist, Samford
university; Kiki Karatheodoris, who worked by my side to put the book
together; ed Florey, who encouraged me; and the professional staff of the
university of alabama Press.

Introduction
Richard Henry Stone was among the americans who felt called as missionaries
in africa during the nineteenth century. as a representative of the Southern
Baptist convention, he spent his years in africa with the Yoruba‑speaking
people in what is now Western nigeria. He lived in ijaye, abeokuta, and
lagos; and traveled to ibadan, lahlookpon, ewo, ogbomishaw, and oyo.
Stone observed the ijaye wars and wrote detailed accounts of the battles
while he and his wife, Susan Broadus Stone, cared for wounded soldiers and
conveyed war orphans to abeokuta. the reports and letters that he sent
to his administrators as well as his book, In Afric’s Forest and Jungle or Six
Years Among the Yorubans, provide valuable eyewitness accounts of Yoruba
life and culture.
Stone’s chronicle is a rare, respectful, and positive one from a Western
perspective, and despite his missionary status, most of his observations are
of the people and culture he encountered. moreover, Stone’s narrative fills
a gap in the ijaye time line as t. J. Bowen’s Adventures and Missionary Labors
in Several Countries in the Interior of Africa From 1849 to 1856, ends where
Stone’s begins in 1859. toyin Falola cites Stone’s book in his The Military
in the Nineteenth Century Yoruba Politics (1984) and Yoruba Warlords of the
Nineteenth Century (2001),1 further demonstrating the lasting importance of
the topics discussed in Stone’s work.
Stone was stationed in West central africa between 1859 to 1863
and 1867 to 1869. He created his narrative by relating his adventures as
described in his comprehensive journal and letters. Stone published his book
in 1899 and included many of the same subjects as Bowen’s. However, while
Bowen’s includes a comprehensive section on language and uses a scientific
approach to the study of culture, Stone’s is a narrative that concentrates on
the personalities of the Yoruba leaders, the Yoruba people, and the religious
personnel with whom he interacted.
in spite of Richard Stone’s account of his african adventures, he remains
an enigma. While it is clear that he was a devout christian, he makes a