Figs. 153 and 154.—Carved ivory head of leopard, the spots of lead, inlaid. This resembles in form the bronze ones, Figs. 58-63, Plate X. It is apparently very old.

Figs. 155 to 157.—Ivory carved sistrum, with a large and a small bell, similar to the brass one, Figs. 76-78, Plate XII. On the side of the large bell is a chief standing with his hands upheld by attendants in the usual manner; a snake-headed sash hangs from waist. On the top two carved figures, one of which has been broken off. At the back of the small bell is a band of straight line diaper pattern, and on the top a crocodile’s head holding a closed human hand. It is much broken. This object is of interest as showing it to be a survival derived from a metal sistrum. Mr. H. Ling Roth has described this object at some length in “The Studio,” December, 1898.

Fig. 158.—Necklace of bronze, ornamented with human heads in relief, and birds with long beaks, perhaps meant for vultures, but too long-necked for that bird, picking at the figures of extended skeletons. In the intervals between the other figures are oval holes with raised edges, probably a degenerate representation of the coiled mud-fish so frequently shown in other Benin antiquities. The fastening end of the necklace is broken, disclosing the fact that the core of the object is of some lighter material encased in copper or bronze. It has a hinge on one side, probably to facilitate the opening of it.

Figs. 159 and 160.—Brass handle of iron sword, with fragment of the iron sword in it. It has two human faces back to back, covered by one hat, as in Figs. 147 and 148, Plate XXIV, and representations of European screw-heads used as ornaments, as in Fig. 140, Plate XXIII.

Figs. 161 to 163.—Bronze staff of office, 4 feet 11 inches in length, weighing 14 lbs.; it has two elongated crotals in the upper end, with long slits for the emission of the sound, enclosing loose rods of iron. Between the slits are vertical bands of guilloche pattern with raised edges, similar to those represented on the stem and top of the mancala board, Fig. 116, Plate XX, and a horizontal band of guilloche pattern with pellets in relief. On the top is an upright human hand, holding a curled mud-fish. The middle of the staff is ornamented by curious nondescript figures alternating with balls, and the lower end has an oblong butt ornamented on the four sides with guilloche pattern, like that of the crotals on the upper end. The staff has been broken in the middle and mended by recasting in a clumsy way, the metal of the part introduced being thicker than the staff itself.