438 



The National Geographic Magazine 



a police officer, with fifty native con- 

 stables, and in most of the provinces 

 there is also a medical officer and a mil- 

 itary garrison. With such a staff of 

 zealous and able officers the administra- 

 tion will, I hope, be fairly effective, 

 though it is none too large to deal with 

 all administrative questions, to collect 

 revenue, compile statistics of popula- 

 tion, etc., to carry on the judicial work 

 of the British courts and to supervise 

 the native courts, to carry out the sur- 

 veys, to superintend the road-making 

 and other public works, and to develop 

 the economic resources and trade. 



THE PEOPLE OF NIGERIA 



The Mohammedan Fulani, though 

 the ruling race, form but a very small 

 item in the population of northern Ni- 

 geria. The indigenous people, who*are 

 subject to them, are of many different 

 tribes. In the northern states of Sokoto, 

 Kano, Zaria, and Hadeija they are 

 chiefly Hausas. South of these are the 

 great Nupe tribe, and south agaiu in 

 Illorin are the Yorubas. Of these the 

 Hausas are the most considerable. They 

 are found as settlers and traders in every 

 province, and even as far as Sierra 

 Leone and the Gold Coast. Their lan- 

 guage is the lingua franca of northern 

 Nigeria, especially of trade, and their 

 keen commercial instincts have earned 

 for them the name of "the business 

 men of west Africa." They make ad- 

 mirable soldiers and are brave and re- 

 liable, but probably inferior in mental 

 ability and alertness to either the Nupes 

 or Yorubas. The latter are hardly less 

 keen traders than the Hausas, at least 

 equally industrious and much quicker 

 to learn, though hardly equal to them 

 in stolid pluck. The Nupes are the 

 finest of the three in physique and very 

 intelligent, but they have riot the pluck 

 of the others, and their ability is apt to 

 degenerate into cunning treachery and 

 falsehood. These tribes have to some 

 extent embraced the faith of Islam, es- 



pecially the Hausas. There are other 

 great tribes who are pagans. 



CLIMATE AND HEALTH CONDITIONS 



Nigeria is a laud of tornadoes. To- 

 ward the close of the dry season — end 

 of February — cyclones from the north- 

 east, usually accompanied by storms of 

 thunder and rain, burst with great fury. 

 Increasing in frequency, they merge into 

 the heavy rains which last from July to 

 October. With the cessation of the 

 rains the whole Sudan presents a vista 

 of grass fires, and the Hamattan wind 

 begins to blow from the northeast. The 

 clear atmosphere of the rainy season 

 gives place to a thick haze, which like 

 a London fog obscures the whole hori- 

 zon, and objects only a few hundred 

 yards distant are indiscernible, so that 

 surveying is difficult. The sun disap- 

 pears like a crimson disk about 5 p. m., 

 behind this pall of haze, which consists 

 chiefly of impalpable dust. The so- 

 called Tuareg " veil," and the habit of 

 wearing the pugari over the mouth and 

 eyes, is adopted as a protection against 

 this dust. The wind itself blows inter- 

 mittently for several days with violence, 

 and anon with moderate force or abates 

 altogether, but always from the same 

 quarter, especially betweem 8 a. m. and 

 4 p. m. 



The Hamattan is the herald of cold 

 nights, and in the northern states even 

 during the day, in the months of Janu- 

 ary and February, the cold is often 

 quite trying. The excessive dryness of 

 this wind from the desert of the Sahara 

 causes an evaporation when it meets the 

 wall of humid atmosphere in the Niger 

 Valley and produces these effects of cold. 

 Where the lakes around Timbuktu and 

 the waters of Chad impinge on the des- 

 ert, I am told that frost is not uncom- 

 mon. These cool nights add to the 

 health and comfort of Europeans, and 

 though the Niger Valley is undoubtedly 

 trying I think that the health conditions 

 of the interior are good, and will im- 



