Old Fobei, the paramount chief of the Tungo country, has died without an heir: so all the petty chiefs agree to meet at Bakado and choose a successor. Of all the aspirants, Chief Tamba is thought to have the best chance; but after many days’ deliberation, the council chooses Tamba’s strongest rival. When asked by his friends the reason of his defeat, Tamba says, "You see, my friends, all the chiefs that come to Bakado were born in the Tungo country, and their fathers and grandfathers. I too was born in the Tungo country, but my father and grandfather came from the Bonno country. Before the council voted, the chiefs talked plenty about making a stranger king of Tungo, and what they said defeated me. — A cockroach stands no show in a fowl country."