JOURNEY FROM BOUSSA TO KANO. 
131 
seen last night put an end to the fast of the Rhamadan ; and 
this day is kept throughout the northern interior by Mohamedan 
and Kafir. Every one was dressed in his best, paying and re- 
ceiving visits, giving and receiving presents, parading the streets 
with horns, guitars, and flutes ; groups of men and women seated 
under the shade at their doors, or under shady trees, drinking roa 
bum or booza. I also had my share of visitors : the head man of 
the town came to drink hot water, as they call my tea. The chief 
of Ingaskie, the second town in Youri, only a day's journey di- 
stant, sent me a present of a sheep, some rice, and a thousand gora 
nuts, for which he expects double the amount in return. The 
women were dressed and painted to the height of Nyffe perfection ; 
and the young and modest on this day would come up and salute 
the men as if old acquaintances, and bid them joy on the day; 
with the wool on their heads dressed, plaited, and dyed with in- 
digo ; their eyebrows painted with indigo, the eyelashes with khol, 
the lips stained yellow, the teeth red, and their feet and hands 
stained with henna ; their finest and gayest clothes on ; all their 
finest beads on their necks ; their arms and legs adorned with 
bracelets of glass, brass, and silver, their fingers with rings of brass, 
pewter, silver, and copper ; some had Spanish dollars soldered on 
the back of the rings. They, too, drank of the booza and roa 
bum as freely as the men, joining in their songs, whether good or 
bad. In the afternoon, parties of men were seen dancing : free 
men and slaves all were alike ; not a clouded brow was to be seen 
in Koolfu ; but at nine in the evening the scene was changed 
from joy and gladness to terror and dismay; a tornado had just 
began, and the hum of voices and the din of people putting their 
things under cover from the approaching storm had ceased at once. 
All was silent as death, except the thunder and the wind. The 
clouded sky appeared as if on fire ; each cloud rolling towards us 
as a sea of flame, and only surpassed in grandeur and brightness 
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