192 FROM THE NIGER TO THE NILE 



attack, were left unconquered by them, and to this day the 

 pagan tribes have preserved their characteristics unchanged, 

 and have remained hostile to the entrance of the stranger 

 into their country. Whereas, the Fulani, finding the tribes 

 of the plains tractable to their rule and their country fertile 

 for corn and rich in grazing, established themselves and 

 raised large herds. Thus they soon became rich and powerful 

 in the land and settled down to a life of ease, surrounding 

 themselves with horsemen and many slaves, and raiding the 

 neighbouring tribes for wives to fill their harems, much as 

 the Romans conducted the rape of the Sabines. So they 

 increased and multiplied, and their priests established schools 

 for the spreading of the Faith. As the generations went on, 

 the area of their power was extended and more tribes came 

 under their influence, who in their turn gradually influenced 

 the conquerors by the mingling of blood, till the Fulani in 

 possession of the land to-day have become much changed in 

 type from their ancestors. The purest representatives of the 

 old race are now found among the Cow, or Bush Fulani, 

 a disappearing people, who live entirely in the bush, 

 wandering in small bands with their flocks from place to place, 

 seeking the green belts of the rivers when the drought burns 

 up the plains. Probably these are the descendants of the 

 slaves that came with the first exodus as horse-servants 

 and shepherds of the flocks, for they would not have shared 

 in the spoils of the conquered nor have grown rich enough to 

 buy the strangers for wives. So, keeping much to themselves 

 and living their life among their master's herds in the bush, 

 they not only preserved their original type, but, with each 

 succeeding generation their lonely habits became more and 



