JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 
129 
the front teeth in Nyffe than any other country in Africa, or indeed 
any other country. The males mostly are those who lose their 
teeth. Whether it may arise from the universal custom of 
chewing snuff mixed with natron or not, I do not pretend to 
say. The white of the eye in the black population is in general 
bilious-looking and bloodshot. There is scarcely one exception, 
unless it be in those below eighteen or twenty years of age. 
Tuesday, May 2. — This morning I left Tabra, and travelling 
along the banks of the May-yarrow, passed the walled village of 
Gonda. Having crossed a stream coming from the north, and 
running into the May-yarrow, I entered the walled town of Koolfu, 
the greatest market town in this portion of Nyffe, and resorted to 
by trading people from all parts of the interior. I was provided 
with a good house ; and the head man of the town, a plausible 
fellow, was very officious, but at the same time giving broad hints 
for a present. Mohamed Ivalu, the madagoo or head man of the 
goffle from Bornou, has to remain here until after the Ithamadan. 
I was visited by all the principal people in the place, as a matter 
of curiosity, though many of them had seen me at Tabra. 
Monday, 8th. — Clear and cool. The house in which I live is 
one of the best in Koolfu. I have three separate coozies parted off* 
from the rest of the house, and a place for my stud, which now 
amounts to two horses and a mare. My landlady is a widow, large, 
fat, and deaf, with an only child, a daughter, about five years old ; 
a spoiled child. The widow Laddie, as she is called, is considered 
to be very rich. She is a merchant ; sells salt, natron, and various 
other articles : but what she is most famed for is her booza and 
roa bum, as the palm wine is called ; and every night the large 
outer hut is filled with the topers of Koolfu, who are provided 
with music as well as drink, and keep it up generally until the 
dawn of morning separates them. Their music consists of the 
drum, erbab, or guitar of the Arabs, the Nyffe harp, and the voice. 
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