Leaving the western portion which belongs to the delta of the Niger for treatment in the article on that river, we will confine our attention here to the district watered by the Old Calabar, the Cross River, and the Qua, which more particularly deserves the name of Calabar. The common estuary of these three rivers enters the ocean about 5° N. lat. and 8° 20' E. long. It is about 10 or 12 miles wide at its mouth, and maintains nearly the same width for about thirty miles above the bar. At the junction with the Cross River the Old Calabar forms quite a labyrinth of channels and islands, and it is also united with the Qua by a number of creeks.

The exact position of the sources of these rivers has never been ascertained, but, according to native report, that of the Old Calabar is situated in the neighbourhood of Iko, which is not very far beyond Uyanga, the furthest point inland reached by Captain Hopkins and the Rev. Samuel Edgerley in their journey of exploration in 1872. The truth of this report is rendered almost certain by the diminished size of the stream in the vicinity of Uyanga; and it is thus probable that the mountains in which both it and its sister streams take their rise are the Rimsby range, forming a western extension of the Cameroons. The Qua River is comparatively small, and navigation is impeded, at no great distance up, by sand-banks and fallen trees. Further inland its course is also broken by rapids and several cataracts.

The country watered by these rivers is occupied by a great number of separate tribes, such as the Efik, the Ekoi, the Ibami, the Oköyöng, and the Aqua, who are politically independent of each other and speak separate languages. Of these the most important are the Efik, or people of Calabar in the strictest sense of that word, which was originally applied by the Portuguese discoverers to the tribes on the coast at the time of their arrival, when as yet the present inhabitants were unknown in the district. It was not till the early part of the 18th century that the Efik, owing to civil war with their kindred the Ibibio, migrated from the neighbourhood of the Niger to the shores of the Old Calabar, and established themselves at Ikoritungko or Creek Town. In order to get a better share in the European trade at the mouth of the river a body of colonists from this city migrated further down and built Obutöng or Old Town, and shortly afterwards a rival colony established itself at Aqua Akpa or Duke Town..

For a time it seemed as if Creek Town would disappear before its younger competitors, but it was again raised to power by King Eyo Eyo, who defied the interference of his rivals. The only political bond of union between the various towns is the Egbo, a kind of secret society into which admittance is obtained on the payment of a certain fee to each of the existing members. The power of this association is almost unlimited, and is used principally for the benefit of its members. Formerly it was one of the greatest curses of the country, from the barbarous customs mingled with its rites; but it is, under European direction, being turned into a means of promulgating a more civilized code of laws through the various towns, and it forms a kind of constitutional defence against the despotism of individual kings. However unsatisfactory the condition of the country still is, there is no doubt European influence of a beneficial kind is gradually making itself felt. The universal belief in the most terrible kinds of witchcraft is slowly being shaken; the use of the esere or Calabar bean as an ordeal, and for purposes of religious purgation, is becoming much less frequent; the murder of twin children is no longer a national custom; and the massacre of his slaves on the death of a king has been abolished. The present king of Creek Town is at least nominally a Christian: and, according to Consul Livingstone, “hundreds of decently-dressed natives of both sexes regularly attend divine service” at the mission stations. These number five or six, and are supported by the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland, which began its labours here in 1846.

The predominant language, not only among the people of Calabar proper, but also of the various tribes on both sides of the Cross River, is Efik, which bids fair to be the common commercial speech of the whole district. It is really a modified Ibibio, and presents traces of what is known as alliterative concord, though this is by no means a universal characteristic. It has been reduced to writing by the missionaries, who have employed the ordinary English alphabet. Considerable progress has been made in the formation of an initiatory literature; no fewer than 65 volumes having proceeded from the mission press. Most important of these are the Efik translation of the New Testament by Ξ. Goldie (1862), the translation of the Old Testament by Dr A. Robb (1868), and a Dictionary of the Efik by H. Goldie, published in 1862. Captain James Broom Walker of Duke Town, who has explored various parts of the country, presented several charts to the Royal Geographical Society, which are reproduced in the United Presbyterian Missionary Record for 1872 and 1875.

See Hope Μ. Waddell, Twenty-nine Years in the West Indies and Central Africa, 1866; “Details of Explorations of the Old Calabar River,” by Captain Becroft in Journ. Roy. Geogr. Soc., 1844; W. Nicholas Thomas in Proceed, of Roy. Geogr. Soc. on “The Oil Rivers of West Africa,” 1873.