Quaint Tales of the Hausas.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLVII, Issue 15, 10 April 1912, Page 34

Quaint Tales of the Hausas.

GOVERNMENT RY HUMOUR. Major A. J. N. Tremearne, university graduate, soldier, and explorer, who has spent valuable yeans as political officer in Nigeria, says that anyone dealing with natives must have a sense of humour. and that our fairy tales are known all the world over. In a recent lecture lie spoke about that quaint tribe, the Hausas. He told of their quaint nature tales—how the crafty spider outwitted flu* lion, the elephant, the hippopotamus. the snake, and even man—though he was never, according to native legend, the equal in cunning of an (.Id woman. It was quite a Kiplingesque “Just So” story clothed in the form of a scientific address. “Tile goat i.s supposed to be very clever.” said Major Tremearne. “and the donkey moderately so: the lion is noted for his strength, and has a special form of address, ‘O mighty one, elder brother of tin* forest,’ but his intelligence is not verv highlv rated.” THE BUFFALO GIRL. He told me of fhe buffalo which, according to the Hausas. becomes a beautiful girl, so that she can lure the hunter into the forest and destroy him. The* natives think cripples are snakes, and not human beings, so thev throw them into the river. The* Major repeated a native story actually told to him of a deformed boy whose father took him to the riverside and gave him some broth. His father, watching from a distance, saw the child suddenly grow until he was as tall as a tree, turning at the same time into a snake. “I do not

think,” the lecturer added, “there was any killing of twins—not in recent times at any rate—and triplets would be considered lucky. Twins are supposed to have a special power of picking up scorpions without injury. The Hausas’ evil

spirit is Dodo. One story,” said Major Tremeane, “relates how he was killed by a small boy in much the same fashion ae our legend of Jack and the Giant Killer. The hero usually cuts off the head or tail of the slaughtered

enemy as evidence, but in one story lie also leaves his boots behind, and there i.s a competition to tit them on among the warriors who pretend that they have done the deed, like that among the sisters in ‘Cinderella.’ In 1906 my

native police sergeant one day brought three constables before ane who accused their wives of being witches. The sergeant reported that the men were preparing to desert. 1 therefore summoned the women and asked them if the charge

were correct, and on being informed that it was I placed them under a guard, not knowing quite what to do with them. Next day 1 put a galvanic battery on each in turn, telling them that they would feel the evil inihience pass right

out of them, and as they thought they did so, the matter ended happily. A simple trick may be much more success ful than the most learned judgment sometimes.”

BOKI l)AN( EKS. Major Tremearne told of an extraordinary dance called the Bori (a delirious person). The dancers appeared to be under actual hallucinations that they are certain characters. Initiation into ‘the degree of bori dancer is a curious rite. The candidate has to eat porridge oil’ the floor, without using her hand-*: a black goat is killed, and there are mystic ceremonies which even Major Tremearne could not describe. ” Then the bori starts.” he said, “to the tune of the fiddle. played by the margoge (‘the doer of the rubbing’). Some of the ■' ncers go round and round in a circle until they have worked themselves into a tit ;>f hypnotic-like unconsciousness, with eyes fixed and s’taring. Others accomplish the same desirable* feat sitting down. Suddenly one of them will begin squealing or roaring, and after a little will jump up in the air and come down Hat. An amusing case of the fear of the evil eye came to my notice in 1907. I made a life-size figure target to represent a man firing, and set it up in the barrack square, so as to he able to give the men practice in aiming before transferring it to tin* rille range. The next, day I was begged to take it away, for some of tin policemen’s wives had seen it and feared disaster. DREAD Ob 'l'll Id E\ IL EYE. ‘‘l was also asked to keep tin* face clear of any lines or spots, for if there were any tribal marks on it those men having scarifications or tattooing resembling them would die if tin* target were pierced. Of course. I complied with their wishes. The target was set up in tin* butts at once, ami the face was painted white to resemble that of a European, so that tin* natives could shoot at it in comfort and have tin* knowledge of a good deed done on tin* rare occasions on which they hit it. The forms of address and descriptions vary for an important person and for a poor man. Thus one says, ‘The beggar is dead.' but ‘The chief is missing.’ ” To conclude with one

;. . y Ma 1 ■: Tr -meirre *st ore - ng < - Chat is why th nd* it safer t in I AN' lEX 1 HAI - \ CITY. \ i .itiv.- . :ty in < A-iitf.il \:r a. with

- - . ed by 1 I?e] gat s th written : ord* 1 k *- “ 1 years, vill as -. surj rise t many rea iers -eption : the extent an 1 ■ **il lilies f Brit ish Nig< i ia. Sue! * t Haus City f

i illuminating article by the ‘Tims rresj ndent. "When the W estSax ureil u 11 un lei th< nslaught of the Danes, and the first Danish king reign« 1 over England. Hausaland was •nquered by an unknown people fr-m the East, and when the prosperity of the Englisl to ts ras eginning to re- . . r Henn 1.. Giiimasu, th< third

king f the invading lynasty, was buildTHE MARKET PLACE. Th . ' - market ■ ' . - t r - jxtracrdinary variety of human types. - ei t business w i en witl elal rate id ires r ambling pictures f Id As-

syi n hel t! ks ft< n ID- ' ' ’. ' . ’ 1 - - ny. Other Haus- s. visit rs ft m K: tsin i. G her, r Daura. - ith th listinguishing facial i rk f his -lan. six strokes with i dot for K tsin; . - f . Daura. an 1 . ■ :.. P ■ ■ ■ ‘ . ■ • • the >untry. the “ mien weai ng their sr ra i a ht 1 air i ringlets. with silver jarrings and gei th ey s. The Nuj e. rith his - teristi headgeai f red. black. ' 1 yel O k-lippi 1 K - ris fr mB n u. T ill. lith Tu ieg ft m list t Sogoto. r Asl < n. T 1 At erh. mt. gar.: an i making his way thr ugh the market to the \Arab qu rter.’ a ju rtet f th ity remarkable for its M rish architecture finite varietv—jne of the articles being

"cow dung in small packets 'very precious,.” The writer explains why the home of the Hansa and the Fulani is so little known. It has to l>e approached by a river full of p ds and rapids and a heat which mly a few British can stand. The climate will no doubt always be a arrier between the white man and the upland of Nigeria.