32 FROM THE NIGER TO THE NILE 



to scatter broadcast, the women rushing about in the direst 

 confusion, snatching up their wares in the endeavour to save 

 them as well as themselves. 



The name, Munchi, was given to them by the Hausas 

 who tell the following fable concerning them. When Allah 

 visited the country where the Munchi now live — to see how 

 the tribes which he had placed there were getting on, he 

 found the Bantu in sole possession, and when he asked 

 them what had become of the original people, they replied, 

 " Mun-chi " — (we have eaten). 



The Munchi are excellent farmers, and their farms are 

 beautifully kept and form a striking contrast to those of 

 their northern neighbours. They are also born hunters, 

 and their method of getting near their game is extremely 

 clever. Covering their heads with the mask of the ground 

 hornbill, swaying to and fro after the manner of the bird, 

 on hands and knees they approach their quarry within a 

 short arrow's flight. 



Gosling in his diary records an interesting conversation 

 on the subject which he had with Alexander Taylor, a Scotch 

 elephant hunter, who had spent many years in the country. 

 " He hates the Hausa as a lying, lazy, underhand man who 

 tells the pagans awful stories about the white man and trades 

 on this. For instance, a trusted messenger was sent out to 

 him from Ibi with letters. On the way he took the oppor- 

 tunity of his being in the employ of the white man to demand 

 three slaves of a town he passed. These were given him, 

 but fortunately he was discovered. Slave-raiding is constant 

 down this way, and slaves are the only things that will 

 buy ivory. The Hausa trader comes along, seizes small 



