THE YORUBA-SPEAKING PEOPLES

OF THE

SLAVE COAST OF WEST AFRICA.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTORY.

The portion of the West African coast occupied by the Yoruba-speaking peoples is situated in the eastern half of the Slave Coast, lying between Badagry on the west and the Benin River on the east. The length of the coastline they hold is therefore smaller than that occupied by the Tshi or Ewe tribes. However, the Yorubas are primarily an inland people, and it was not until the beginning of the nineteenth century that they moved south to colonize Lagos and the nearby shore.

The territory now inhabited by the Yoruba tribes is bordered on the west by Dahomey, on the southwest by Porto Novo and Appa, on the south by the sea, on the east by Benin, and on the north by the Muslim tribes from the interior. These northern tribes have recently conquered and annexed the Yoruba province of Ilorin, and their territory can now be said to extend southward to approximately 8° 30' North latitude.