112 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ANATOMICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL 



over-gown (boloma) generally white or blue, worn over a closer fitting 

 tunic-like garment (caftan), spacious zouaves, sandals, fez and turban, 

 cotton cap or straw hat, as the season or the occasion demands. The 

 female costume forms a complete and decent covering for the entire 

 body. 



9. HAUSALAND ACROSS THE CENTURIES. 



The Sultan Bello ascribes the origin of the Hausa people to a 

 slave. He excepts the people of Gober, who, he says, were free-born, 

 and descended from the Copts of Egypt. In estimating the value of 

 this dictum, it should be borne in mind that Bello was a Fulani, an 

 hereditary enemy of the Hausas, and not likely to say anything in 

 their favour. The Kano Chronicle, which covers a period extending 

 from mythical times to the Fulani conquest in the early part of last 

 century, gives the founder of Kano as one Berbushay. This word 

 means "a man from the land of slaves". But to insist on "a man 

 from the land of slaves " being, therefore, a slave, is to run the risk of 

 perpetrating a non-*equitur. Berbushay is described as "a black, 

 strong man," and " a lover of hunting ". He played in the Sudan the 

 role of a Herakles. He is credited with having killed an elephant 

 with his spear one day. He carried it on his head, more Africaim, 

 a long distance. Where he put it down was afterwards the site of 

 Kano. A similar legend ascribes the foundation of Zaria to a strong 

 man who killed a "dodo " or fetish lion. The mythical history of the 

 Hausa States makes Biram wed Diggera, a Berber settlement in the 

 desert, north of Hausaland. This union resulted in a family of three 

 sets of twins, Katsena and Zaria, Kano and Kano, Gober and Daura. 

 Each member of the family had duties assigned to him. Gober, the 

 fighting man, was to see to the defence of the others, a reference no 

 doubt to the position of this State on the northern frontier. Kano and 

 Rano were to develop industries. Kano is to this day an industrial 

 centre. Katsena and Daura were to trade, and Zaria to maintain the 

 supply of labour. This it effected by raiding the defenceless country 

 to the south. In a short time the family was increased by the addi- 



