46 CHIEFS & CITIES OF CENTRAL AFRICA 



Though the Lamido himself is too great to acknow- 

 ledge publicly the existence of women, they hold a 

 higher position in the social scale than is the case 

 amongst most tribes. The Lamido's mother is chief- 

 tainess in her own right of a certain town in her son's 

 dominions, and on the shores of Lake Lere we came 

 upon another woman who had succeeded to this dignity. 

 The Mundonng address M. Bertaut as their father and 

 mother, which in itself denotes an inclusion of the 

 female sex. 



All through the following day we were on view from 

 an early hour. The Lamido came first, when Mrs 

 Talbot and I were still engaged in dodging out of 

 sight of the roof- gazers as we performed our toilettes. 

 He came on foot, surrounded by his retinue, from 

 whom he was distinguished by the kingly emblem of 

 ivory bracelets. 



Hardly had he gone before a number of Senegalese 

 soldiers' wives arrived. They wore metal rings round 

 the rims and lobes of their ears, and those who could 

 not afford metal wore loops of string instead. ' "^'ndif 

 women followed, some of whom spoke Kanuri, some 

 Fulani. They had thick beads affixed to one side of 

 the nostrils, and sometimes in the lobe of the ear, 

 though one of them had adopted the more savage 

 ornamentation of wild beast's teeth, and some who 

 did not possess the requisite beads had jDrepared the 

 cavities all the same. This so touched Mrs Talbot 

 that she sacrificed a necklace of her own, and the happy 

 recipients filled the gaps there and then. 



Then came some Bagirimi and Mundonng, and then 

 the male population of the neighbourhood — Pagans 

 from Kumbrra ; Senegalese, whose wives we had just 



