FROM MAIFONI TO KUKAWA 



277 



chief aim of their existence — go further to strengthen 

 this supposition. They are essentially a pastoral people, 

 leading a patriarchal 

 sort of life, driving 

 their flocks and 

 herds from one 

 ground to another 

 according to the 

 seasons and the 

 supply of grass. So 

 they are never in a 

 place for very long 

 at a time, and leave 

 one village to estab- 

 lish themselves in 

 another where there 

 is fresh grazing for 

 their cattle. They 

 are pale in com- 

 plexion for West 

 Africans. The women 

 strike one as being 

 of finer physique 

 than the men : they 



are long of limb, regular in feature, with almond-shaped 

 eyes ; their hair is most luxuriant, and the manner 

 of dressing it in numbers of fine plaits, which fall like 

 the fringe of a curtain, forms a most decorative setting to 

 the face. On market-day the women take still more trouble 

 with the tiring of their hair, subjecting the plaits to an 



A SHIJA WOMAN 



