DESTRUCTION OF IDOLS IN AFRICA.
By Editor
WE find in the Church Missionary Intelligencer an account of a remarkable movement in abolishing idolatry at a place named Ugbolu, in the Niger Mission. The story is so interesting that we give it in full:— “After one of the meetings a man named Maduagu remained behind. This man is noted as the greatest hunter of the place, and is reputed to have killed ten hippopotami, ten buffaloes, an elephant, and a vast number of wild boars, deer, porcupines, monkeys, etc. Altho not a native of Ugbolu, yet he has attained such power and influence as to take precedence of even some of the kings. He asked what was to be done with the idols. I told him they were to be taken out of his house and publicly destroyed. To this he agreed, and we arranged that it was to be done at 3 P.M., when those who went to farm would have returned. An hour afterwards one of the young men brought us his idols and told us to come into his house in the afternoon and see if there was anything else that should be removed. Charles and I then sought a quiet corner and poured out our hearts in gratitude to God for such signs of encouragement. At 3 o’clock11we assembled all the young men and some of the children who were learning to read, and went to Maduagu's house. Many of the heathen, drawn together by curiosity, came also to see. After singing and prayer, the work of destruction began. Maduagu's Ikenga—the chief idol, that was believed to have endowed him with power to become a famous hunter—was brought out. It was armed with knives and matchets, with which it was to execute vengeance on Maduagu's enemies. It had also ornaments of several strings of cowries, horns of buffaloes, tusks and teeth of hippopotami, making it, on the whole, a hideous-looking object. The helpless idol was very soon deprived of these paraphernalia and put into a basket, together with a number of other smaller ones, and sent to the mission yard to await the public burning. From Maduagu's house we were invited to another, and then another, and another, to our greatest astonishment and gratitude. In every house to which we were invited not only did we remove the wooden idols and destroy those of earth, but also every vestige of superstition, be it only a little horn and a piece of rag tied together. I can not state correctly the number of medicine pots that we smashed into atoms, but forty would be the lowest number. These had been prepared by the country doctors for various purposes, some for driving away witches, some for good luck, and some for driving away enemies in time of war. The horrible stench emitted from some of these medicines was enough to cause malarial fever, and the wonder is that our deluded brethren could have believed that these abominable things could have helped them in any way.”