Chap. XXII. COUNTING SHELLS. — A PETTY SULTAN. 29 
two hundred (or ten hawiyas*) or a thousand each. 
Having at length succeeded, with the help of some 
five or six other people, in the really heroic work of 
counting 500,000 shells, our friend went with us to 
the sick sultan Mazawaji : I say sultan, as it is well 
for a traveller to employ these sounding titles of 
petty chiefs, which have become naturalized in the 
country from very ancient times, although it is very 
likely that foreign governments would be unwilling 
to acknowledge them. The poor fellow, who was 
living in a hut built half of mud, half of reeds, was 
suffering under a dreadful attack of dysentery, and 
looked like a spectre; fortunately my friend suc- 
ceeded in bringing on perspiration with some hot tea 
and a good dose of peppermint, in the absence of 
stronger medicines. We then went to the house of 
Amankay, that useful fellow so often mentioned in 
the Journal of the late Mr. Richardson, and by my- 
self. He was a " biizu " of this place, and had 
many relatives here, all living near him. His house 
was built in the general style ; but the interior of the 
courtyard was screened from profane eyes. For- 
tunately I had taken with me some small things, 
such as mirrors, English darning-needles, and some 
knives, so that I was able to give a small present to 
each of his kinsmen and relatives, while he treated 
us with a calabash of fura. 
* " Hawiya " means twenty, and seems originally to have been 
the highest sum reached by the indigenous arithmetic. I shall say 
more about this point in my vocabulary of the Iiausa language. 
