Chap. XXV. POPULATION. — COMMERCE. 125 
far more numerous, have few or none. It would be 
very interesting to arrive at an exact estimate of the 
numbers of the conquering nation, in order to see the 
proportion in which they stand to the conquered. 
As for the town itself, their whole number, of every 
sex and age, does not, in my opinion, exceed 4000 ; 
but with regard to the whole country I can give no 
opinion. 
The principal commerce of Kano consists in native 
produce, namely, the cotton cloth woven and dyed 
here or in the neighbouring towns, in the form of 
tobes or rfgona {sing, riga) ; tiirkedi, or the oblong 
piece of dress of dark-blue colour worn by the wo- 
men ; the zenne* or plaid, of various colours; and 
the r&wani baki, or black litham. 
* There is a great variety of this article, of which I shall enu- 
merate a few kinds : — " fari-n-zenne," the white undyed one ; " zen- 
ne deffowa," of light-blue colour ; " fessagida," with a broad line of 
silk ; " hammakuku," with less silk, sold generally for 3000 kurdi; 
" mailemu," sold for 2500; " zelluwami," a peculiar zenne with 
a silk border ; "jumada," another similar kind; " da-n-katanga," 
once a very favourite article of female dress, and therefore called 
* the child of the market " (of the word katanga, I have spoken on 
a former occasion), with red and black silk in small quantity, and a 
little white ; " albassa-n-Kwara " a very peculiar name, chosen to 
denote a kind of zenne of three stripes of mixed colours ; " godo," 
white and black and of thick thread ; " alkilla," white and black 
chequered ; " saki," silk and cotton interwoven, and forming small 
squares black and white ; " keki," half turkedi (that is to say in- 
digo-coloured), half " saki," or silk and cotton interwoven ; " keki 
serki bokoy," four kinds. Besides, there are ten kinds of zennwa 
entirely of silk, but these are made better in Nupe than in Kano. 
