Chap. XXV. 
ADMINISTRATION. 
145 
" kurdi-n-korofi," of seven hundred kurdi * on every 
dyeing-pot or korofi, of which there are more than 
two thousand in the town alone ; a " fffcto " of five 
hundred kurdi on every slave sold in the market ; an 
annual tax, " kurdi-n-debino," of six hundred kurdi on 
every palm-tree, and a small tax called " kurdi-n- 
rafi " on the vegetables sold in the market, such as 
dankali or sweet potatoes, gwaza or yams, risga, 
rogo, &c. This latter tax is very singular, as the 
meat, or the cattle brought into the town, as far as I 
know, does not pay any tax at all. Clapperton was 
mistaken in stating that all the date-trees in the town 
belong to the governor, which is not more true than 
that all the sheds in the market belong to him. 
The authority of the governor is not absolute, even 
without considering the appeal which lies to his liege 
lord in Sokoto or Wurno, if the subjects' complaints 
can be made to reach so far ; a sort of ministerial 
council is formed, to act in conjunction with the 
governor, which in important cases he cannot well 
avoid consulting. At the head of this council stands 
the ghaladima, whose office originated, as we shall see, 
in the empire of Bornu, and who very often exercises, 
as is the case in Kano, the highest influence, sur- 
passing that of the governor himself ; then follows 
the " serki-n-dawakay " (the master of the horse), an 
important charge in barbarous countries, where 
victory depends almost always on the cavalry; then 
* Other people have stated to me that the kurdi-n-kordfi did 
not exceed 500 kurdi. 
VOL. II. L 
