69 
CHAP. XXIV. 
HAUSA. — HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF KATSENA. ENTRY INTO 
KANO. 
In order to render intelligible the anterior history of 
Katsena, it will be necessary to enter into some pre- 
liminary explanation respecting the whole country of 
Hausa. The name Hausa was unknown, as it seems, 
to Leo African us ; else instead of saying that the 
inhabitants of Zaria, Kdtsena, and Kano spoke the 
language of Gober *, he would have said that they 
spoke the Hausa language. But we have no right to 
conclude from this circumstance that the practice of 
giving the name Hausa, not only to the widely-diffused 
language, but also to the countries collectively in 
which it prevails, is later than Leo's time ; on the 
contrary, I must acknowledge the improbability of 
such an assumption. It is true that, with the faint 
light available, we are unable to discern quite distinctly 
how the Hausa nation originated ; but we may posi- 
tively assert that it was not an indigenous nation, or 
at least that it did not occupy its present seat from 
* Leo, 1, i. s. 12. When he says that the inhabitants of Wan- 
gara (G-uangara) likewise spoke Hausa, he falls into the same sort of 
error as when he says that the people of Melle spoke the Songhay 
language. 
r 3 
