143 
CHAP. LVII. 
RESIDENCE IN WURNO. 
I shall preface the particulars of my residence in 
Wurno with a short account of the growth of the 
power of the Fulbe or Fellani in this quarter, and of 
the present condition of the empire of Sokoto. 
There is no doubt that, if any African tribe de- 
serves the full attention of the learned European, 
it is that of the Fiilbe {sing, Pullo), or Fula, as 
they are called by the Mandingoes ; Fellani {sing. 
Bafellanchi), by the Hausa people ; Fellata, by the 
Kaniiri ; and Fullan, by the Arabs. In their ap- 
pearance, their history, and the peculiar character 
of their language, they present numerous anomalies 
to the inhabitants of the adjacent countries. No 
doubt they are the most intelligent of all the 
African tribes, although in bodily development they 
cannot be said to exhibit the most perfect specimens, 
and probably are surpassed in this respect by the 
Jolof. But it is their superior intelligence which 
gives their chief expression to the Fiilbe, and pre- 
vents their features from presenting that regularity 
which we find in other tribes, while the spare diet 
of a large portion of that tribe does not impart 
to their limbs all the development of which they 
