124 FROM THE NIGER TO THE NILE 



families. One lot that I followed for some time consisted 

 of father, mother, and three young ones. Part of the time 

 they walked upright and once appeared to be hand in hand. 

 They made a noise hke the deep bark of a big dog. 



Gulani is a very strongly fortified town with two deep 

 trenches and a thick wall pierced with loopholes. Except 

 for one or two posterns, there is no way of getting into it 

 but through a gate, the approach to which is built on piles 

 which could easily be burnt down on an emergency. Close 

 by on a hill to the south stands Bajogum, another town 

 belonging to the same king, which is, if possible, even more 

 strongly fortified. 



From now onward all the country as far as Kwong 

 belongs to the Barburr, who, next to the Kerri-Kerri, are 

 perhaps the most interesting people out here. The name, 

 Barburr, was given me by Alexander, when he met me at 

 Burutohai. Up till then I had been told that their name 

 was Habe. This word, however, is simply the Hausa expres- 

 sion meaning " bush people," and, on further investigation, 

 I found that Alexander was quite right, and that among 

 themselves they only go by the name he gave. The higher 

 classes are usually Mahomedan, but the old pagan customs 

 still obtain among the mass of the people. All their towns 

 are walled and surrounded by a trench, and they told me 

 that before the coming of the Fulani their territories extended 

 far beyond their present limits. One place that they men- 

 tioned as having been formerly possessed by them was Bagi, 

 and they asserted that when the Fulani attacked some of 

 their people, the latter retired up the mountain, and certainly 

 I had noticed traces of former habitation on Bagi Hill. 



