THE SHEHU OF KUKAWA 293 



that would have taken the shape of ornaments or articles 

 that were designed to be a pleasure to the eye ; but, if he 

 possessed any, they were safely stored away, and, as Jose 

 observed on one of his subsequent visits, even our paper 

 plates had been taken down, and were only hung on the wall 

 to mark special occasions like our own visit. But he shares 

 this peculiarity in common with most natives ; headmen 

 would sometimes come to us and buy cloth, and consider- 

 ing it too precious to wear, would lay it up as treasure in 

 the dark, to be taken out and gloated over at rare intervals, 

 and then put back again. It is a child-like instinct which 

 they have to hide away and hoard anything that is 

 precious. 



Such a httle way back in their history Ufe was so un- 

 certain, and the law of meum et tuum so ill-defined, that 

 any possession of value had to be kept hidden from the 

 spoiler ; so that, I suppose, the virtue of a thing came to 

 be enhanced by this necessity, and even in the present 

 time, though there is but little reason for such caution in 

 the preservation of property, the native somehow feels that 

 a mystery is being violated when a cherished treasure is 

 continually exposed to view ; so he endows it with a 

 secret virtue, which, like phosphorus, spends itself with too 

 long exposure to the light. 



Before leaving, I was anxious to take a photograph of 

 the Shehu, and the accomplishment of my desire brought 

 about a little incident which I will relate. 



I communicated my wish to him through the interpreter 

 and thefj instant he understood, his smooth, fat face was 

 wreathed in smiles and his eyes glistened with satisfaction. 



