Excerpts and photo from the book "Seventeen years in Yoruba country" by Anna Hinderer 1873"Ibadan has the characteristic features common to Yoruba towns," with houses built in a distinct pattern—"a square, enclosing a court open to the sky." The family rooms are "low, dark rooms, without windows," covered by "a sloping roof of grass or agidi leaves." These roofs "project beyond the building" to form a piazza, where "visitors are received, and business is transacted." Inside the courtyard, daily life unfolds: "sheds for the horses, goats, sheep, and poultry" stand amid the hustle and bustle. "A doorway leads into the street," breaking the "monotonous face of blank mud walls." But the streets themselves are far from dull! They are "diversified by sheds, which serve the purpose of shops," as well as "orisha or idol houses" and open spaces shaded by trees—"used as markets." Here, "amidst a merry hum of voices," the city thrives. Over the noise, "shrill sounds" fill the air, "which may remind an English listener of the cries in the streets of London." A "lively traffic is carried on in the produce of the farms and native manufactures." And Ibadan is no ordinary town—it is a hub of industry! "Numerous weavers, tailors, blacksmiths, carpenters, tanners, leather-dressers, saddlers, potters, and dyers" ply their trades. Others are busy "extracting palm oil and nut oil, and in making soap." But above all, farming is king. "The principal occupation of the people is farming," and "everyone is engaged, whatever other calling he follows." Land is available to all—"each having a right to such land as he chooses to occupy outside the walls, provided only that it be not already appropriated." And when Mr. Hinderer, a European missionary, arrived and asked what price he must pay for land, the chief laughed and said: "Pay! Who pays for the ground? All the ground belongs to God—you cannot pay for it!"

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