When endeavouring to obtain information, one was always confronted with the problem of obtaining a clear idea of what the Eghāp themselves understood. It was not that my informants were reluctant to give me any information, but they were themselves very confused in their ideas.
I had some of the older men of the Eghāp tribe brought to me for examination, but when discussing any statement they generally disagreed with each other.
In the present paper I propose to record without alteration the various religious beliefs as they were given to me by informants.
The Eghāp call the Supreme Being, or Creator, Mbomvei. He is the creator of all living things and lives everywhere, both in the earth and out of it. For the creation of mankind he delegated authority to a vast number of beings, each of whom the Eghāp call an mbop,[1] and these are regarded by them as lesser deities. Thus every living person has, as his personal creator, one of these beings, and there is an mbop for every conceivable type of person. It is said the original, or first mbop, made by Mbomvei, the high god, was fashioned from mud in the human form, and that this served as a model for all the others.
The mbop is invisible to the living, but after the death of a person, it may appear in ghost form. Mbops are believed to be responsible for creating two types of human being. For example, an idiot or foolish man is said to have an mbop ghughu of the first type, but that of a normal man is called mbop nzange, or of the second type. Again, a man who dies young is said to have an unfair mbop; but an old man has a good one, and because of this is greatly to be desired. A person's mbop is also held responsible for any sickness which may befall him. In fact, anything happening in the lives of the Eghāp is put down to the account of these beings.
- ↑ This is the word used for body as well.
