Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 3.djvu/403

 Fulahs and Haussawa. At the time of Rohlf's visit it was a flourishing place, and the chief station on the trade route between Kano and the Lower Niger. Some 45 or 50 miles north-east of the Benue-Niger confluence, and within the present kingdom of Nupé, lie the ruins of the famous city of Panda (Fenda); formerly capital of the powerful kingdom of the Igbara nation, destroyed by the Fulahs towards the middle of the present century.

Since the commercial importance of the Benue has been recognised, the English have established a factory at the village of Lokoja, near the Niger confluence, and this place has now become an important trading, political, and religious centre. Igbegbé, on the left bank of the main stream below the junction, was formerly a chief stronghold of the slave-hunters, and is still a busy trading-place. Idda,

capital of the Ibo kingdom, occupies the most picturesque position in the Lower Niger basin, crowning a bluff some 60 feet high on the left bank, here everywhere skirted by rich and verdant plains.

Onitcha, a still larger place than Idda, lies about 2 miles from the left bank on a well-cultivated terrace rising 130 feet above the low-water level. Ona bluff a little higher up on the opposite side stands the town of Assaba (Assabua), where the English have also some factories. Till recently no one could be ennobled in Assaba without offering a human sacrifice to the local genii, and the town contained no less than four hundred of these dignitaries, Thanks to its position. about half-way between the Niger-Benue confluence and the mouth of the Nun, Onitcha hag become the most important depôt along the whole course of the Niger,