Sokoto

“ It was common knowledge, I remembered, that the women of Sokoto were extremely superstitious, believing as implicitly in the sayings of their astrologers as we, of the North, believe in the efficacy of representations of the hand of Fathma of Algiers nailed over our doors to avert the Evil Eye. Was this chamber the sanctum of some seer whose duty it was to forecast the good or evil fortune of the doves of the harem? ”

“ Seldom are we in Sokoto itself, for of later years its prosperity hath declined, and the palace is of meagre proportions; indeed, it is now half-ruined and almost deserted. The wealth and industry of the empire is centred here in Kano, for our trade extendeth as far north as Mourkouk, Ghat, and even Tripoli; to the west, not only to Timbuktu, but even to the shores of the great sea; to the east, all over Bornu; and to the south, among the Igbira, the Igbo, and among the pagans and ivory hunters of the Congo. ”

“ By the end of the year 1902 British administration had been extended to the whole of the provinces in the south, east and west of the protectorate. The important Mahommedan states of Sokoto, Gando, Kano and Katsena remained independent. These states were regarded as the stronghold of Fula supremacy. The emir of Sokoto held the position of religious as well as political head of all the lesser states of Northern Nigeria, and in response to friendly overtures on the part of the British administration had declared that between Sokoto and Great Britain there could be nothing but war. ”

“ Like the emir of Kano the new emir of Sokoto worked most loyally with the British administration. The province has been organized on the same principle as the other provinces of Northern Nigeria. A British resident of the first class has been placed at Sokoto and assistant residents at other centres. British courts of justice have been established and British governors are quartered in the province. Detachments of civil police are also placed at the principal stations. The country has been assessed under the new system for taxes and is being opened as rapidly as possible for trade. ”

“ The superfluous couple were dismissed. Really, made up into about 60-lb. loads, only 18 men would have been wanted, but going away for a month from the chance of refilling any vacancy, it was desirable to have two spare men in case any of the others fell ill. In order that all might do their share as long as possible, the loads were arranged into 20 divisions.
At the close of the first day’s trek I called Dan Sokoto and told him I did not at all relish the trick he had tried and that if anything of the kind occurred [241] again I would send him back and appoint another Headman. ”

“ Soissons (11) , a fortified town of North France, dep. Aisne, on the Aisne, 65 m. NE. of Paris; has a 12th-century cathedral and ruins of a famous abbey; chief industries are brewing and the manufacture of various textiles; was a place of much importance in early times, and figures in the wars of Clovis and Pepin, frequently in the Hundred Years' War, and in 1870 was captured by the Germans; is considered the key to Paris from the Netherlands side.
Sokoto (11,000) , a native kingdom of West Central Africa, within territories administered now by the British Government ”

“ Slender, fine-featured, but dark-skinned, with the profiles of Assyrian statues, the Damergu Fulani are of the Bororoji section of this interesting people which, in the course of its sojourn and gradual movement along the fringe of the Sudan from west to east, has provided the ruling class in most of the Hausa States. The recent history of Sokoto, of Katsina and of Kano is their history. Their conquest of power in Hausaland is but another instance of the ascendancy of nobility and a glaring contradiction of the Socialist theory of equal birth. ”

“ After numerous reverses the Fulahs triumphed at last over the Haussawa, founding a vast empire which stretched as far as the sources of the Benue.
Amongst the pretended Fulahs of Sokoto, there are many of different stocks who belong to the conquering race only through social and political alliances of long standing. Such are the Sisilbé or Sillebawa, descendants of the Wakoré or eastern Mandingans, who speak both Pular (Fulah) and Haussa, having long forgotten their mother tongue. Such also, but of inferior caste, are the Lahobe of Senegal, and the Soghorans or Jawambés of Sukoto. ”

“ Thence he went to Sokoto, intending afterwards to go to Bornu. The sultan, however, detained him, and being seized with dysentery he died near Sokoto on the 13th of April 1827.
Clapperton was the first European to make known from personal observation the semi-civilized Hausa countries, which he visited soon after the establishment of the Sokoto empire by the Fula. In 1829 appeared the Journal of a Second Expedition into the Interior of Africa, &c, by the late Commander Clapperton, to which was prefaced a biographical sketch of the explorer by his uncle, Lieut.-colonel S. Clapperton. ”

“ Here were perhaps threescore youngsters, the older and more advanced boys forming a separate class, and a more intelligent, keener crowd it would be difficult to select in any country. Their presence—among them were sons of the Emirs of Sokoto, Kano, Bauchi, Bornu, Katsina, Katagum, Bida, Gombe, Gando, Daura, and Muri—together, was evidence of the revolution which a few years have brought, for their respective fathers were until our advent more or less in a state of chronic friction and sometimes of open warfare. ”

“ N.B. In Sokoto and some other districts gujiya is also used for geḍa (Arachis hypogæa) —kwaruru or Voandzeia subterranea being distinguished as g. dukkus (Sok. and West) , etym. from the dwarf habit—; similarly g. ḳwarasḳwaras (Sok. and Kano) ; g. tsugunne (Kano) —etym. tsugunna = to squat—gujiya al kuluga, and g. maikwokwo (from the resemblance of the pods to the smallest calabash) are names in East Hausa; g. kolanche (Sok.) = a long variety of Arachis or geḍa, q.v. bidi = one of the varieties of gujiya with spotted and mottled seeds. ”

“ The Races of West Africa 305 143. Sokoto: View taken in the Interior 307 144. Range of Mohammedanism in Central Africa 310 145. A Sokoto Fulah — Brother of the Sultan 311 146. Inhabitants of Haussa 312 147. Katsena and Dankama 314 148. Kano 315 149. Plan of Sokoto and Map of Haussa, drawn by Sultan Bello 316 150. Wurno: View taken in the Interior 317 151. Gando and Sokoto 318 152. Rabba 320 153. Bida and Kaduna 321 154. Egga 322 155. The Upper Benue 325 156. Mac-Iver Peak 326 157. Chief Routes of Explorers East of the Benue 328 158. Riverain Populations of the Benue and Lower Niger 329 159. ”

“ Sokos collect together and make a drumming noise, some say with hollow trees, then burst forth into loud yells, which are well imitated by the natives’ embryotic music. When men hear them, they go to the sokos; but sokos never go to men with hostility. Manyuema say, ‘Soko is a man, and nothing bad in him.’
“If a man has no spear the soko goes away satisfied; but if wounded he seizes the wrist, lops off the fingers and spits them out, slaps the cheeks of his victim, and bites without breaking the skin. ”

“ Sokkā, asking for a very rapidly running horse and a very sharp-edged sword, mounted upon the back of the horse, and having bounded into the middle of the hostile army who were building the enemy’s encampment, driving on the horse to the extent possible, he began to cut on that and this hand (ē mē ata) . Sokkā having cut down as many as possible, stringing a head, also, on his very sword, came to the royal palace. Thereupon, the forces (pirisa) who were building the encampment, thought, “If so much damage came from one man, how much will there be from the other forces!” ”

“ The hands, or rather the fingers, are like those of the natives. The flesh of the feet is yellow; and the eagerness with which the Manyuema devour it, leaves the impression that eating Sokos was the first stage by which they arrived at being cannibals; they say the flesh is delicious. The Soko is represented by some to be extremely knowing, successfully stalking men and women while at their work ”

“ The Sokotri appear to have remained Nestorian Christians, with a bishop under the metropolitan of Persia, through the middle ages, though there are indications pointing to a connexion with the Jacobite church. As early as the 10th century Sokotra was a haunt of pirates; in the 13th century Abulfeda describes the inhabitants as “Nestorian Christians and pirates” but the island, was rather a station of the Indian corsairs who harassed the Arab trade with the Far East. The population seems in the middle ages to have been much larger than it is now ”

“ We assured them that we had landed in Sokotra (which they pronounce Sakoutra) to see the island, and not to circumnavigate it. Others could pass, so we could.
Their last hope was in my hoped-for faintheartedness. They watched till I was alone in the tent, and, having recounted all the perils over again, said:
'Let the men go over the mountain, but you, O Bibi! will go in a boat, safely. You cannot climb, you cannot ride the camel, no one can hold you; the path is too narrow, and you will be afraid.'
That being no good, old Sheikh Ali came. ”

“ A man murdered or robbed, a house fired, a camel stolen, or any lawless act, is almost always traced to an Orfilly; and certainly a more insolent, thievish, and begging set of men I never saw. They even exceed the Sockna men in this particular: “Give me, give me,” is their cry from morning till night.
The language of Sockna, as I mentioned when first we visited it on our way to Morzouk, is the same as that of the Tuarick, and is only spoken in this town; their neighbours of Hoon and Wadan not understanding it at all. I subjoin a few words, supplied by one of the natives. ”

“ Not being anxious to stay long near such votaries of science, I hastened on, and soon found myself in the Sokko, or Moorish market-place, which is situated outside the town, just beyond the gate. I had fortunately visited this place at a favourable time to see a good deal of the people, for I was always anxious to observe and to sketch everything striking in costume and appearance. At the period of my visit, it happened to be the evening preceding market day, and the villagers from the surrounding neighbourhood were crowding in with their wares. ”

“ Socotora is an island not far from the mouth of the Red Sea, being the Dioscuria or Disoscordia of the ancients, in lat. 13° 20' N. It was governed when we were there by a sultan, named Amir Ben-said, son of the king of Fartaque, in Arabia Felix, which lies between the latitudes of 15° and 18° N. on the coast of Arabia. This king was in peace with the Turks, on condition of assisting them with 5000 men when required, and then these troops to be paid and maintained by the Turks, to whom he paid no other acknowledgement. ”

“ Sokota, one of the great central markets, and capital of the province of Waag in Amhara, at the converging point of several main trade routes; the market is numerously attended, especially by dealers in the salt blocks which come from Lake Alalbed. The following towns are in Shoa:—Ankober, formerly the capital of the kingdom; Aliu-Amba, east of Ankober on the trade route to the Gulf of Aden; Debra-Berhan (Debra-Bernam) (“Mountain of Light”) , once a royal residence; Liché (Litché) , one of the largest market towns in southern Abyssinia. ”

“ He represents this beast as being of great intelligence, and so cunning, that it is difficult to stalk him in front without being seen, and, therefore, when he is killed, it is usually from behind. The Manuyema people frequently string a number of nets round some enclosure in the forest and drive the Sokos into them and spear them. ”

“ The Soko brings forth at times twins. A very large Soko was seen by Mohamad’s hunters, sitting picking his nails; they tried to stalk him, but he vanished. Some Manyuema think that their buried dead rise as Sokos, and one was killed with holes in his ears, as if he had been a man. He is very strong, and fears guns, but not spears. He never catches women. ”

“ Socotora, or Zakatra is an island twenty leagues long and nine broad, stretching nearly east and west, in lat. 12° 40' N. and is the largest of the islands near the mouth of the Red Sea, but has no ports fit for any great number of ships to ride in during winter. Through the middle of this island there runs a chain of very high hills, yet covered over with sand blown up by the north winds from the shore to their tops, so that they are entirely barren and destitute of trees or plants, excepting some small valleys which are sheltered from these winds. ”

“ In subtlety of sound Sokoteri is painfully rich, and we had the greatest difficulty in transcribing the words. They corkscrew their tongues, they gurgle in their throats, and bring sounds from most alarming depths, but luckily they do not click. They have no word for a dog, for there is not a dog on the island; neither for a horse nor a lion, for the same reason; they seemed surprised at the idea that there might be such words in their language; but for all the animals, trees, and articles commonly found there they have words as distinct from the Arabic and Mahri as cheese is from fromage. ”

“ I have great confidence in Socato."
"The bad white men leave their captive alone," said Socato, "and I should have set him free, but the great white phantom came, and then the white captive disappeared."
"What's that?" cried Frank, in astonishment. "Make it plain, Socato. Whom do you mean by the great white phantom?"
"The one who owns the canoe that goes alone—the one who built this house and lives here sometimes. Every one fears him. My people say he is a phantom, for he can appear and disappear as he likes, and he commands the powers of light and darkness. ”