ACEOSS LAKE CHAD 235 



is associated with a legend about the origin of the 

 Buduma. 



There was a man of the Kanembu tribe named 

 Bulu, whose brother was a holy man and went 

 on pilgrimage to Mecca, but ere he started he 

 recommended his wife to Bulu's care, for his ab- 

 sence would be a long one — even now the pilgrimage 

 takes three years. It is the custom amongst the 

 Kanembu for a man to succeed to his deceased 

 brother's wives, and as time passed and no news 

 came, Bulu assumed that his brother was dead, 

 and he took the supposed widow to himself, though 

 he was conscious of wrong - doing. One day his 

 brother did return, and Bulu did not dare remain 

 to give account of his false stewardship, but fled 

 affrighted to the islands of Lake Chad. No man 

 had ever ventured thus far, and there he led a 

 solitary existence till one day a great wind blew 

 from the west, and presently he saw an object that 

 had been washed against the rushes. He waded out 

 and found that it was a basketful of millet. It re- 

 minded him of grain-lands and cultivation, and a life 

 of peace and plenty ; so he set out, and landed on 

 that shore that is now called Saiorum. It was in 

 the territory of the Sos, from whom the Kotoko are 

 descended. The chief welcomed him in friendship, 

 and Bulu dwelt with him a certain space. Now 

 the Chief of Sos had a beautiful daughter named 

 Saiorum, after whom the land is called, and she and 

 Bulu loved each other. They had no hope of gaining 

 her father's consent to their marriage, but Bulu had 

 not strength to force himself to leave her, and he 

 remained to bring dishonour on the house that had 



