268 FEOM THE NIGER TO THE NILE 



for, as with most native markets, no village has sprung up in 

 proximity to the stalls and the nearest habitation is half a 

 mile distant. But on the market day the whole place starts 

 suddenly into life, presenting most varied pictures and the 

 liveliest scenes. There is a market king, to whom the 

 merchants and the buyers bring their disputes to be settled, 

 and for their protection the women choose a queen. It is 

 not custom to buy directly from the women's stalls and 

 nearly all transactions are carried on through the queen. 

 Except for the heat, many hours can be pleasantly spent 

 surveying the ever- changing scene with its mixture of colours 

 and sounds, and studying the various types and the mingling 

 interests of the men and women who here meet to buy and 

 sell. In the busy throng are to be seen the wandering Shuas 

 standing by their tethered oxen which have brought in 

 sacks of grain ; the Fulani by his sheep and goats in stall ; 

 the Kanembu merchant from Kowa with piled slabs of 

 potash and dried fish that he has bought from the Budumas 

 of Lake Chad, and the big balls of blue dye for the dyeing 

 of cloth. Here come Hausas from many parts, some from 

 far-off Kano to buy the renowned cattle of Bornu ; others, who 

 are weavers and plaiters, to sell their wares of cloth and straw, 

 bernouses and hats, and little parchment boxes that contain 

 blue chalk, beloved of the women for painting their eyes, and 

 little brushes of frayed bark wherewith to lay it on. The 

 Kanuri women from the country round bring butter and 

 milk, and cakes made sweet with butter, monkey-nuts, 

 yams and chilis, and a root that makes good soup. There 

 are leather-workers, too, with saddles and shoes, and the 

 high leathern gaiters that horsemen wear. 



